him for taking a break from whatever that is to answer our ridiculous question of what happens when you go wee-wee in the cold. at the end of the day, whether the video is real or not, and i'm on record saying i do not believe it is real, i think we all learned something tonight on the "ridiculist." what, i'm not exactly sure. that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. "early start" begins right now. have a good day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com scandal over a traffic jam creating some trouble for chris christie. the new jersey governor accused of abusing his power for political revenge. could his 2016 white house run be affected by this? breaking overnight, the new shocker from dennis rodman, now apologizing for his angry, bizarre, "twilight zone" interview with cnn. what he's now saying about an american held prisoner in north korea. we're live. the people have spoken. the big winners and the big moments from the "people's choice awards." >> can't wait to hear that! good morning, everyone.

>> i was all tied up with christie. >> "people's choice," that's the important stuff. great to see you, i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. thursday, january 9th, 5:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with the political fireworks surrounding one of the country's most prominent leaders who sure as heck seems like he has been preparing to run for president. these are just some of the questions facing new jersey governor chris christie as he wakes up this morning. one, will he speak out loud about the biggest scandal in his career with actual words? he was silent yesterday, taking no questions. will he fire some of his closest aides? were people's lives put at risk because of politics, raw, partisan politics? here's the background here about this imbrig loe, which involves the governor's office, a local mayor and what happened last september with the george washington bridge, one of the busiest bridges in the world. last year, christie was re-elected as governor of new jersey. many democratic officials in the state endorsed him over the democratic candidate. but not the mayor of ft. lee.

then, suddenly, without any notice, during a september rush hour, two of the three lanes from ft. lee to the george washington bridge were shut down. they stayed closed for days, and they led to a traffic nightmare. you can only imagine. even for paramedics, they couldn't get to people in trouble. there are even questions this morning over whether this contributed to the death of a 91-year-old woman. now, governor christi he has lo denied any connection to what happened, even saying that no one in his office knew about it, but now, two of his appointees at the agency that runs the bridge have resigned, and now, e-mails show that a top aide in christie's office wrote to one of those appointees with now an infamous quote which said "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." that was a month before the shutdown. the mayor of ft. lee, mark

socolich is furious. >> you cannot shut down the busiest bridge in the world for retribution. it's not plausible. you intentionally put people in harm's way. you knew that before you did that, you knew that when ft. lee called 30, 40 times, you knew that when i sent text after text and calling cell phone after cell phone. you always knew that because we were telling you that that was happening. do me a favor, don't call me, but call the families who were waiting three, four times longer for emergency service agencies when their loved ones were having heart palpitations or when their loved ones had extreme chest pains and were waiting for our ambulance corps to arrive. do me a favor, call and apologize to thousands of families whose kids were late for the first day of school and the three or four days that ensued thereafter. call our police department and call our administrators in the school system that had to deal with this, call the folks that had to deal with traffic armageddon here that week. don't call me. it's not -- you don't have to call me. i give you a pass. don't call me, but call those

families, call those kids and call everybody else, because ft. lee didn't deserve it. we didn't deserve it. >> everyone understands traffic jams. all right. so, as i said, governor chris christie, he did not speak out loud about this, hasn't yet, but he did release a statement on paper, saying "i am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was i misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. one thing is clear, this type of behavior is unacceptable and i will not tolerate it because the people of new jersey deserve better." now, as you can imagine, there are increased calls both inside and outside of new jersey for investigations. some people are saying the justice department should step in to see if any kind of federal law was violated. >> and this is an administration that has long prided itself as including democrats, having democrat support. he's somebody who won re-election with the support of many democrats and many democratic mayors. this would go against that story line, for sure. >> the support of democratic

mayors. he likes to say he's bipartisan. he likes to say that he's above politics, and that's the real problem here, because what is more brazenly political than causing a traffic jam because of not getting an endorsement? now, governor christie says he didn't know about it, and it seems quite possible that he didn't, but the question was, was there an atmosphere in that office of retribution? >> and what about leadership? you hear where the buck stops. what about leadership if his political appointees were operating like that. this story is just beginning, that is true. another story proving more interesting by the minute. breaking overnight, a big apology from dennis rodman, saying he's sorry for his bizarre, angry, sometimes incoherent interview right here on cnn a day after he serenaded kim jong-un for his birthday and amid calls that he should have actually worked to free a sick american in prison there.

anna coren is in beijing with what rodman's saying now, a stark contrast to his demeanor on cnn is what the statement on this piece of paper, anna. >> yeah, absolutely, christine, a complete back flip today from dennis rodman. he, of course, is apologizing for that rant on cnn with chris cuomo and also for implying that kenneth bae, that american missionary who's been sentenced to 15 years labor in north korea, somehow deserved it. before we get to that apology, let's listen to some of that bizarre outburst. >> if you understand what kenneth bae did -- >> yeah? >> -- do you understand what he did? >> what did he do? will you tell me -- >> in this country. >> what did he do? >> no, no, you tell me. you tell me. why is he held captive drvesion. >> they haven't released the charges. >> why? >> listen -- >> reporter: yeah, fired up and

angry dennis rodman there. well, let's now have a listen to the statement that he released through his publicist, and i want to read it to you in full, if i may. he said "i want to apologize. i take full responsibility for my actions. it had been a very stressful day. some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates. my dreams of basketball diplomacy was quickly falling apart. i had been drinking. it's not an excuse, but by the time the interview happened, i was upset, i was overwhelmed." he also said "i want to apologize to kenneth bae's family, i want to apologize to my teammates and my management team. i also want to apologize to chris cuomo. i embarrassed a lot of people. at this point, i should know better than to make political statements. i'm truly sorry." so, there you have it, he was emotional and drunk. that was the reason for his outburst. whether that's enough for the about a family, who, of course, were outraged to hear him imply that kenneth bae somehow

deserved the sentence that is yet to be known, they obviously wanted dennis rodman to use this opportunity to appeal to kim jong-un, the leader of north korea, to release kenneth bae, who obviously, as we know, is very associations. >> he's apologizing for his outburst, not apologizing for his trip to a dictatorship that's imprisoned americans, starved its own people and is a brutally closed society. do we know when rodman is coming home? >> reporter: you're absolutely right, he makes no apology whatsoever for his friendship with kim jong-un. this, of course, is his fourth visit to north korea. we don't know when he is returning. one of his teammates, floyd, he came through beijing earlier today. he flew out of pyongyang along with a bunch of tourists who were there for that basketball game to celebrate what we believe was the 31st birthday of kim jong-un. they said it was a very bizarre

experience, the highlight of their trip in north korea. they said that dennis rodman played the first half of the game. the second half he sat next to kim jong-un dressed in traditional north korean clothes, smoking cigars with kim jong-un and laughing. so, that gives you a bit of an insight into what took place. but from all reports, they are skiing today in north korea, and it may be some days before he returns, christine. >> wow. all i can say is wow. anna coren, thank you so much. >> wow about sums it up. all right, nine minutes after the hour. president obama is said to be getting closer to making changes in how the nsa conducts its surveillance programs. he met wednesday with key members of his intelligence team, and today he is expected to meet with congressional leaders to discuss reforms. last month, the group of outside experts appointed by the white house said the nsa program should be reformed or stopped and more oversight, they say, is necessary. the white house is on the defensive over scathing criticism from former defense

secretary robert gates. in his new book, gates blasts both the president and the vice president, saying the president lost faith in his own afghan war strategy and calling the vice president wrong on almost every major foreign policy issue. now the administration firing back, saying policy debates are not new, defending vice president biden and his record. >> the president and the rest of us here simply just disagree with that assessment. as a senator and as a vice president, joe biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time and he has been an excellent counselor and adviser to the president for the past five years. >> the book will not officially be released until next week. one of the fascinating things of yesterday is there were all kinds of pictures of joe biden and president obama together, all of a sudden! all right, ten minutes after the hour. standoff in the senate over unemployment. all eyes are on majority leader harry reid today, who could force a key procedural vote on

extending long-term benefits, but many republicans, including some who back an earlier vote, say they will not sign on unless lawmakers come up with a way to pay for these benefits. the white house has lobbied hard for the $6.4 billion bill. stock futures higher this morning, a strong report from the private sector on jobs yesterday. we're going to get the government's big december report tomorrow. deutsche bank, the economists at deutsche bank think we could see jobs 250,000 increase in payrolls, john, 6.8% jobless rate. that would be the best in years. put it together, and the federal reserve likely to keep pairing back its stimulus for the bond market. that is the big, big story in money today. the dow fell 68 points yesterday, but the nasdaq closed higher. the s&p basically flat. the s&p is down about 0.6% for the first five days of 2014, and that is a worrying sign because january has historically been a winner for stocks, so we're really watching the slow start to stocks this month. in europe this morning, the markets in london, frankfurt and paris all showing some gains. in tokyo overnight, the nikkei

closed with a loss. and here in the u.s. late yesterday, macy's caught wall street by surprise. the second largest department store operator forecasting better profits, but at the same time, said it would cut 2,500 jobs in a restructuring. that news sent the stock up 5% in premarket trading, so macy's likely to be a mover this morning. >> tough job news for macy's, but not for america, not for the country here. >> no, you're seeing again and again little pieces of evidence the job market is improving, even as in washington they're lobbying to pay more unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. it's because for people out of work six months or longer, it's the same old job market. >> christine romans will be all over that, you can be sure. coming up next, the temperatures are rising, but the misery intensifies following this cross-country deep freeze. indra petersons is tracking the damage, and thankfully, the big changes coming in the forecast! mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971.

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move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. the major january deep freeze may be over, at last, but the impact is still being felt across many states today. the death toll from the cold is now up to 23, many the result of traffic accidents, snow shoveling, which can also be dangerous, or exposure to the cold. temperatures are rising at last, flight cancellations on the decline, at last, and the weather outlook looks a little bit more like regular winter, regular cold winter, not the inside the freezer, beyond all sense of reason and appropriateness cold.

>> a friend of mine in chicago said now they're starting to work on their base tans for spring. it's only minus 1 degree, time to work your base tans. >> speedo weather. western new york finally getting to dig out after days and days of snow. parts of the region have several feet of accumulation. easy for me to say. now the worry is flooding as all that stuff melts. the icy roads and bad weather meant everyone had horror stories. >> pennsylvania's awful, harrisburg was a sheet of ice. it was a slip 'n slide, the road, essentially. >> it's been bad because of the freeze that started everything. like, for instance, my house, the pipe busted in the house, so i've been at my parents' for three days. >> all right, it's been so cold in the midwest that hell has frozen over, literally. we're talking about hell, michigan. this is the town of 600 northwest of ann arbor. it's digging out from up to 2 feet of snow. vehicles are stranded everywhere and they're still battling subzero temperatures. all right, and look at this mess

on i-94 on the freeway in downtown detroit. a water main break turning the road into a sheet of ice, forcing officials to shut down these roads overnight. an amazing story of survival from indiana, where a trucker is live today, despite being pinned to the ice under his truck. this happened monday when he got out to check on his brakes. the truck shifted, he was stuck. luckily, his phone fell out of his pocket and he was able to make a call for help. >> it caught my left side, and my left arm was pinned by the axle of the truck. i wound up being froze to the pavement in the snow. i remember saying, i said, whoever this is, whatever you do, don't hang up the phone. if they hung up the phone, it was going to be my last chance to talk to anybody. it's amazing to me is it's better than winning the lottery.

>> unbelievable. >> can you imagine what it must be like for him now? oh, that is wonderful news. all right, indra petersons is here. we only invited her back today because she promised that finally she has some good news. >> i do, and each day gets better, so you can invite me back tomorrow and the day after, for like three days, right? i'll take what i can get. temperatures are starting go up again. still some temperatures are below normal, so let's jump to friday, where so many of you, especially as the system lifts out to the north, you'll notice the west quickly warms up, temperatures a good 12 degrees above average in minneapolis. then of course, down to the southeast also seeing temperatures rebounding quickly. eventually it spreads all the way into the northeast, where check that out, saturday new york city looking for upper 50s. that is almost 20 degrees above average. so, that is the good side of all of this. of course, there is some weather system kind of kicking through -- there's actually two. the first one is weak bringing icing through arkansas today, but the second system really picks up strength. we'll see some rain and even snow out of this. let's take you day by day again. there we go, ice iing in arkans

during the morning hours. then tomorrow, that system is weak and kind of goes away. then comes the second one. notice we have all the high pressure that brought the cold air, but you have southerly winds, the moisture from the high leaving the low also moving in, so rain in the midwest by the weekend and that system goes all the way into the northeast and we get rain again, but 20 degrees above normal? hey. >> i'll take the rain. appreciate it. 19 minutes after the hour. big news coming out of utah. that state says it will not recognize gay marriages now that the supreme court has put them on hold there. more than 1,000 same-sex couples have wed in utah since december 20th, when a lower court judge ruled the state's marriage ban was unconstitutional, but the status of those marriages has been in question as the state appeals that ruling. now, the governor's office says they're reverting back to the old rules until this can all be resolved. >> we're now frozen in time until we get further direction from the courts. we are not commenting on the

legal status of those marriages. that's for the courts to decide. >> it's a devastating blow to these families. the state of utah is not harmed at all by recognizing the marriages, but the harm upon these families and their children is beyond calculation. >> it's actually really complicated, the legal situation there. they're not rolling back anything that some of these now-married couples have picked up. if they had same-sex benefits, if they changed their names, they're not reversing the actions already taken. they're just not going to implemei implement any new state actions and the governor says they're not doing anything to undo the marriage. they are just reverting back to the old law for every other future measure. >> something to watch in utah. new york governor andrew cuomo taking the first step toward making his state the 21st to legalize medical marijuana. he plans to let as many as 20 new york hospitals prescribe the drug for patients with serious illnesses. the pilot program represents a political shift for this governor who had long opposed

any legalization of marijuana. two sailors are dead this morning, another missing after a navy helicopter went down in the atlantic near norfolk, virginia. there were five crew members aboard the "sea dragon," which was taking part in a training mission at the time of the crash. this is happening a day after an air force helicopter went down off the coast of england, killing four airmen there. the investigation into that crash is still ongoing. bells rang out across tucson wednesday to remember all 19 victims of a mass shooting three years ago. six people killed, 13 wounded, including congresswoman gabby giffords, who was shot in the head. giffords marked the anniversary by completing a tandem skydive ads her remarkable recovery continues. she's founded a national organization promoting gun control measures. a big night for sandra bullock at the "people's choice awards," taking home four awards last night, including favorite movie actress and favorite movie

duo with george clooney, this for the film "gravity." "the big bang theory" won favorite network tv comedy with its star also -- i can't pronounce her name, callie cocoa? i don't watch this much -- >> i would pronounce it winner. >> just call her winner. that's important. she captured the favorite comedic tv actress award. and it was a trifecta for justin timberla timberlake. he won the favorite male artist, favorite r&b artist and favorite album for his album "the 2020 experience." ellen degeneres became the winningest female in "people's choice awards" history, capturing the trophy for favorite daytime tv host. >> wow. congratulations to all of them. >> hopefully, we'll get nominated for favorite 5:00 show that airs on cnn, at some point. >> because we get up so early, we only see about a third of those things. next, three big names making it into baseball's hall of fame, but i've got to tell you, there was some major, major snubbing

that went on. andy scholes joins us next.

all right, the baseball hall of fame welcomed three new members, all fantastic players, to really, the most prestigious club in the world yesterday. however, once again, the biggest names from the steroids era remain shut out. >> andy scholes joins us now with more in this morning's "bleacher report." hi, andy. >> hey, good morning, guys. yesterday a big day for greg maddux, tom glavine and greg

thomas, all easily voted into the baseball hall of fame. the shocking vote, craig biggio didn't get in. the astros legend missed the cut by just two votes. the mega stars from the steroids era like barry bonds, roger clemens and mark mcgwire, they all fell way short of the votes they needed to get in and they actually lost votes sinceless year. it's starting to look less and less likely that these guys will ever get into the baseball hall of fame. all right, it's official, johnny manziel will be playing on sundays next year. the former heisman trophy winner announced yesterday that he will forego his final two seasons at texas a&m and enter may's nfl draft. johnny football, who had the best two statistical seasons ever for a quarterback in the s.e.c., is projected to be a top ten pick. trending on bleacherreport.com today is shoelace gate. if you haven't heard about this yet, it's pretty silly. on sunday, the knicks' j.r. smith untied shawn marion's shoe during a free throw. the nba warned smith after the game, this was a big no-no. smith then tried to do it again

tuesday night. the nba said enough is enough and slammed him with a $50,000 fine. smith has apologized for his actions, but the knicks are reportedly fed up with his act and are now trying to trade him. all right, huge upset in college basketball last night. georgia took down missouri in overtime, and you've got to check out georgia head coach mark fox on the bench. he was overcome with emotion in the waning seconds. his father, raymond, who is a former coach as well, passed away five days ago. fox couldn't hide his feelings on how big a moment this was for him, and his dad was definitely on his mind. >> it is a special night. it was a hard week. the greatest compliments i got this week were from my dad's former players. and i'm sure he'd be really proud of mine tonight. >> that was a great moment, guys. this was a huge upset. missouri had the longest home winning streak in the nation and georgia lost their last five in a row, so very unexpected outcome there, but a great, great win for coach fox there. >> still, back on j.r. smith, i'm unsure why he's untying his

shoes, like me turning off your mike when no one's looking. i don't get it. >> don't do that. thanks so much, andy. top headlines and everything you need to know after the break. might not know about. salad dressings, raspberries, strawberries... they all have acid in them, and it's working at your enamel. once the enamel is gone, it's gone. you can't get it back. i would recommend using pronamel as your regular toothpaste. pronamel will help to re-harden the enamel that is softened by the acids in our daily diets. knowing what i know about pronamel, i use that every day twice a day. and i know that i am protected.

the bridge to scandal. what did governor chris christie know about a plan to mess with one of the busiest bridges in the world? was it political payback? this morning, new information and new questions about what this might mean for his presidential ambitions. breaking overnight, dennis rodman apologizing for what he says was a booze-fueled response, angry rant on cnn. why he says his dreams of basketball diplomacy with north korea were falling apart. and a big change in the forecast heads our way, the country breaking free from the deadly deep freeze, but we have new stories of survival this morning from this historic cold snap. indra peters ons tracking what's next. >> welcome back to "early start," i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman, 30 minutes after the hour now. there are calls for an

investigation into a political scandal involving new jersey's governor, chris christie, a superstar in the republican party who has long prided himself on working with democrats and has long been considered a front-runner for the 2016 presidential race. now he is entangled in a new jersey controversy involving a local mayor and the george washington bridge, one of the busiest bridges in the world. last year as christie ran for re-election, many democrats endorsed him, but not the mayor of ft. lee. then, back in september, suddenly without any notice, two of the three lanes from ft. lee to that bridge, that important, busy bridge, were shut down in rush hour traffic, closed for days, leading to a traffic nightmare. even paramedics couldn't get to people in trouble, leading, reportedly, to a 91-year-old woman dying. governor christie has long denied any connection to what happened. he insisted no one in his office had anything to do with it, but two of his employees at the agency who run the bridge have

resigned, and now e-mails show a top aide in christie's office wrote to one of those appointees in the weeks before the bridge shut down, writing "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." the mayor of ft. lee is furious. >> you cannot close down the busiest bridge in the world for political retribution. it's not something that's possible. you have intentionally put people in harm's way. you knew that before you did it, you knew that when ft. lee called 20, 30, 40 times, you knew that when i kept sending text after text and calling cell phone after cell phone. you always knew that, because we were telling you that that was happening. do me a favor, don't call me, but call the families who were waiting three, four times longer for emergency service agencies when their loved ones were having heart palpitations or when their loved ones had extreme chest pains and were waiting for our ambulance corps to arrive. do me a favor, call and apologize to thousands of families whose kids were late for the first day of school and

the three or four days that ensued thereafter. call our police department and call our administrators in the school system that had to deal with this. call the folks that had to deal with traffic armageddon here that week. don't call me. it's not -- you don't have to call me. i give you a pass. don't call me, but call those families, call those kids and call everybody else, because ft. lee didn't deserve it. we didn't deserve it. >> christie has released a statement saying, "i am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was i misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. one thing is clear, this type of behavior is unacceptable and i will not tolerate it because the people of new jersey deserve better." one of christie's appointees will appear before a state committee today. it's not clear if christie himself may speak out today, but a lot of people want him to go beyond that statement, that paper statement, and they want to hear him, you know, look in the camera, talk to people from new jersey, and explain exactly what happened.

>> yeah, he's going to have to speak out loud about that. i would not be surprised to hear him talk today. it can't last much longer. and of course, democrats control the legislature in new jersey, so there will be investigations. >> oh, yeah. >> there already are. there will be hearings. there already are, so he's got to get out in front of this, get out as much information as quickly as he can. 34 minutes after the hour. breaking overnight, he says he's sorry. he, of course, dennis rodman, issuing a detailed apology this morning about his angry, bizarre, come up with any word you'd like, his "twilight zone" interview with cnn's "new day." >> turns out it was drunken. >> exactly. a day after he serenaded kim jong-un before a basketball game in honor of the north korean dictator's birthday -- that's what happened yesterday. you'll recall rodman was asked by our own chris cuomo about kenneth bae, the american held in north korea for more than a year, and whether he should be advocating for his release. rodman suggested that, well, rodman suggested that chris didn't know why kenneth was being held in north korea.

well, now rodman is apologizing to about a's family and to chris for this interview. in a statement from his publicist, rodman blames this on a stressful day. he says he had been drinking and some of the players with him were threatening to leave. this is what the statement says. he says "it's not an excuse, but by the time the interview happened, i was upset, i was overwhelmed. it's not an excuse, it's just the truth," he says. "i embarrassed a lot of people. i'm very sorry. at this point, i should know better than to make political statements." rodman closes by saying, "i am truly sorry." >> i'm interested in the fact that the pressure from families and business associates of the former players. i keep wondering, how do they know they're safe there? you know, an elderly american tourist was held there eventually and released. you've got kenneth bae there. you've got a regime that is known to starve its own people, human rights violations widely reported. how do they know they're safe? i can see why there would be pressure from families. >> best not to do drunken interviews when someone's life

is on the line, either. changes could be soon coming to how the nsa conducts surveillance programs. president obama said to be closer to making his decision about how to go forward, meeting wednesday with key members of his intelligence team. and today with congressional leaders to discuss reforms. last month, a group of outside experts appointed by the white house said the nsa programs should be reformed or stopped and that more oversight was necessary. the white house is firing back at what former defense secretary robert gates is saying in his new book. his scathing criticism is directed both at the president and vice president. gates saying the president lost faith in his own afghan war strategy, and he calls the vice president wrong on almost every major foreign policy issue over the last 40 years. the administration's response? a hardy endorsement of joe biden. >> the president and the rest of us here simply just disagree with that assessment. as a senator and as a vice president, joe biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time and he has been an

excellent counselor and adviser to the president for the past five years. >> the book will not be officially released until next week, although the excerpts are everywhere. >> yes, they are. all right, the battle over extending jobless benefits returning to the senate today where majority leader harry reid may try to force a procedural vote on a bill that would restore money for more than a million americans whose checks have been cut off. those checks about 300 bucks a week. but many republicans, including some who backed an earlier vote, say they won't sign on, they will not do it unless lawmakers come up with a way to pay for it. it's about $6.4 billion, the cost for this, and the white house has lobbied hard for it. the deep freeze that turned much of the country into an ice box growing deadlier. the death toll from the cold now up to 23. many of those deaths a result of traffic accidents, snow shoveling or simply exposure to the elements. the good news, though, is that temperatures are now rising. what a difference from earlier in the week when they were

barely above 0. >> one of the hardest hit areas, western new york, there is finally a chance to dig out after days and days of heavy snow. just look at that picture! that is crazy! several feet of accumulation blanketed that region. now the worry is flooding as all that snow melts, but the icy roads and bad weather meant that everyone had their own horror stories. >> pennsylvania's awful. harrisburg was a sheet of ice. it was a slip 'n slide, the road, essentially. >> it's been bad because of the freeze that started everything. for instance, my house, the pipe busted in the house, so i've been at my parents' for three days. wow. hell has frozen over. this is the scene in hell, michigan, a town of 600 northwest of ann arbor has been digging out from up to 2 feet of snow. they're still battling subzero temperatures. and check out this, slippery mess on i-94 and the lodge freeway in downtown detroit. a water main break turning the roads into a sheet of ice, forcing officials to shut down the interstate into the night. in indiana, a truck driver

is lucky to be alive this morning after being pinned to ice underneath his truck. this happened monday when he got out to check on his brakes. the truck shifted suddenly. he got stuck. luckily, his phone fell out of his pocket and he was able to make a call for help. >> it caught my left side and my left arm was pinned. by the axle of the truck. i wound up being froze to the pavement in the snow. i remember saying, i said, "whoever this is, whatever you do, don't hang up the phone." if they hung up the phone, it was going to be my last chance to talk to anybody. it's amazing to me. it's better than winning the lottery. >> another chance. wow. >> amazing. just amazing. indra petersons, what should we expect for today? >> i'm starting with temperatures, because that was the big story the last several days, and because they're going up. things are improving. today, a few places still have

below-normal temperatures, but it doesn't matter, considering they have rebounded significantly compared to the last few days. and as soon as you get towards the weekend, it gets oh so much better. starting in the midwest, you'll see that recovery first as well as into the south as the jet stream lifts farther to the north. take a look. new york city still three degrees above normal by friday, minneapolis 12 degrees above normal. then by saturday, everyone is seeing that recovery. notice new york city almost 20 degrees above normal. same thing with d.c. you're looking at 60s for the weekend. so, it looks great out there. just keep in mind it is warm, but there's also going to be some showers into the forecast. today a weak little system producing some icing in the morning around arkansas, kind of making its way in through memphis. that dissipates quickly. another system right behind it does start to move in. the key here is look at the low. we're getting warmth off of the gulf, the high that brought the cold air still in the back side of it, pulling the winds out of the south. that's the reason everyone's warming up, but also the showers are going to be moving into the midwest. then by the weekend, that second system will make its way into the northeast, so more rain here as well, but regardless. >> i like how you call it a

weak, little system, demeaning the weather patterns moving this way. >> sorry, yeah. little guy. >> indra, appreciate it. >> thanks. coming up, freedom finally coming to an american thrown behind bars for posting a parody on youtube. the very latest on this developing story from abu dhabi. we're live when we come back. for the first time, you can use nicorette... even if you slip up... so you can reach your goal. [ male announcer ] now, quit on your own terms with nicorette or nicoderm cq. [ male announcer ] now, quit on your own terms but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive, i had to do something. i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair

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has now been released after nine months in jail. sara sidner is in abu dhabi with the latest. sara. >> reporter: john, yeah, he has spent nine months in jail. his family has been fighting to get him out of jail with the help after they went public of hollywood a-list comedians like will ferrell and a u.s. senator and the governor of arizona, where shezanne kassim is from. this has been an ordeal for the family, a lot of people calling for his release. finally, the release did happen. the uae, however, sentenced him to one year in prison, a $10,000 fine for what they say was a video that defamed the uae abroad. that was the charge that he was convicted of, along with four other men, two of them from here in the uae. we understand that he has definitely been released. he was taken to an area for deportation and he is, we suspect, on a plane now heading for home. this has been a long, long

ordeal for him. as you might imagine. he came here hoping to make it big in a city that is growing and everyone looks at as a huge business hub and opportunity, but he's going home now after an ordeal he never thought would happen to him. john? >> yeah, i can't imagine anyone thinks something like this will happen to him. we are happy for him and his family that he is being released. sara sidner for us in abu dhabi, thank you so much. a deadly helicopter crash has claimed the lives of at least two sailors. their navy chopper went down in the atlantic near norfolk, virginia. there were five crew members aboard the "sea dragon." one is still mising. the chopper was in a training mission when it had to make a water landing. this comes one day after a helicopter crash off england, killing four airmen. the investigation into that crash is ongoing. tucson paused wednesday to remember the 19 victims of that mass shooting that happened there three years ago.

6 people were killed and 13 wounded, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords, who was shot in the head. giffords marked the anniversary by completing a tandem skydive. look at that. just another step in her remarkable recovery. just yesterday, she reported she has now regained movement in her right arm. jahi mcmath, the 13-year-old california girl declared brain-dead, is now receiving food and air through tubes. an attorney for her family says doctors completed the procedures on wednesday at the facility where she was taken earlier this week. mcmath suffered complications after tonsil surgery last month, but doctors and a court have declared her legally dead. but the family insists they want more time to see if she recovers. their attorney now claims doctors believe she is improving. a meeting with a judge today for a special prosecutor looking into a controversial missouri rape case. the prosecutor's investigating daisy coleman's claims that she was sexually assaulted at a

party and then the charges were dropped because the accused perpetrator was politically connected. coleman was taken to a hospital this week after her mother says she tried to commit suicide after being bullied online. the international space station may get a reprieve. the obama administration says it now thinks the orbiting research complex should continue to operate until the year 2024, four years longer than planned. that's a big deal, because some of the private companies developing space programs were not sure if they'd have a place to land their cargo if the iss was defunded. of course, congress still has to have a say. the station program costs about $3 billion a year. let's take a look at what's coming up on "new day." >> chris cuomo, kate bolduan join us this morning. hi, guys. >> good morning, you guys. a lot going on, as you know. we're following the huge traffic scandal plaguing new jersey governor chris christie this morning, and the growing calls for a federal investigation by some. when will we actually hear

christie speak? growing calls for that. and what will we learn in new hearings that will be happening this morning. we're looking at every angle with guests as well, and we're going to have a panel on that as well. and we have breaking news overnight regarding north korea and dennis rodman. he's apologizing. he feels that his outburst was out of line. he had been drinking. he's stressed. he had a lot of people coming after him. he was just trying to do the right thing there and he lost it. he apologizes to his teammates, to those who were offended, he apologizes to us. that's all very nice, but he's also with the ruler again there. so, we're going to dig into what sparked his apology and we're going to talk to one of the wives of one of the players on the team who went there with him, cliff robinson's wife, heather, and what that team knew when they were going into north korea and assess the responsibility there as well. >> yeah, sorry's fine. it's everything surrounding it that really matters. chris, thank you so much. kate, see you in a bit. coming up for us next, if you've applied for a loan

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we're hours away from the opening bell, but it's never too early for "money time." welcome back to "early start." a stock futures climbing macy's stock moving higher in the

premarket. the big department store raised profit target, saying it will make more money than expected, but it's cutting 2,500 jobs, close stores, realigning departments. those moves will save macy's $100 million a year. investors love it. macy's stock is up 5% in premarket trade. new mortgage rules take effect tomorrow, meant to offer consumers more information and more protection. it could also mean getting a home loan could be tougher, depending on who you are. these new rules require lenders to make a good faith, reasonable effort to determine if you can pay back your loan. sounds reasonable, but guess what? in the run-up to the financial crisis, lenders didn't do that, and it turned out to be very, very dangerous for everyone. loan officers and mortgage brokers now have to follow conflict of interest rules. that means anyone you pay to help you find a mortgage can't be paid by someone else, and you're going to get clearer information on your monthly payments. if you see a problem, the servicer must respond to your written inquiries quickly. there are a lot of new

protections in here, but some concerns may it could lead to a little bit longer to process a home loan. and if you don't have sterling credit, you might be shut out. now, maybe you couldn't expect to find a really hot car at the consumer electronics show. what's so consumer electronics about cars? everything. and let me show you this one. this is for how the other half lives, boasting -- >> half? >> boasting a 50,000 -- okay, the other 0.1% of the top 1%. the high-tech system. this lamborghini goes from 0 to 60 in less than 3 seconds. it will cost you $4.5 million. only nine will be produced, so get your order in. >> do you want to hear my problem with lamborghinis? >> what color would you want? >> they're like a foot high. you have to lie down and roll over to get into those cars. they may be great sound systems that go really fast, but you can't get in unless you're a gymnast. >> you know the problem with lamborghinis? you say that like you've driven so many of them. >> no, you see them on the

streets and it's like crazy. how do you get in? >> yeah, the maserati's much better. all right, coming up next, serious news, a deadly shooting on a pennsylvania highway has authorities hunting for a killer and asking, could it happen again? we'll have the story coming up next. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer.

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?

welcome back, everyone. authorities in pennsylvania are on the hunt for a killer this morning, suspected of opening fire on interstate 81 just north of the maryland state line and killing timothy davidson, who called police early saturday morning saying someone was following him and shooting. whoever it was, they apparently rammed his car into the median, got out and fired several rounds into the disabled vehicle. the worry is this may not be an isolated incident. >> while the incident appears to be random, it was still very deliberate it was still very calculated and it was still very violent. due to the fact that we've had a similar case with the same mode of operation, we are concerned that this individual could strike again. >> and coming up on "new day," you will hear the police dispatch calls on this issue.

that's coming up in the 7:00 hour. all right, thanks for joining us this morning. joining us this morning. "new day" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i think the story's beyond belief. you don't hold people hostage for whatever political reason. >> bridge to trouble. scandal ignites overnight for chris christie. hearings held today after incriminating e-mails surface suggesting the governor's office