out there doing their work. they're going to be out here 24 hours a day, as is cnn. we're out here so you don't have to be here. thank you very much to our meteorologists and our correspondents who are covering it. that's it for our coverage with me but john vause, zain asher pick up the coverage live now from the cnn center in atlanta. >> this will most likely be one of the largest blizzards in the city of new york city. >> poses a threat to public safety. >> it's dangerous to be out there now. it's only going to become more dangerous. >> this is going to be a lot of snow no matter how you are add it up. >> people should act in such a way to bhak themmake themselves save. >> the most important thing is for people to hunker down. >> yeah hunker down. that's what a lot of people are doing. and we'd like to welcome you in the united states and all around the world.

i'm john vause. >> and i'm zain asher. we are tracking a life-crippling blizzard. for some people though the worst is still yet to come. it's just gone 1:00 in the morning on the east coast. tens of millions of people are already feeling the storm's impact. >> several governors have declared states of emergency, thousands of flights have been canceled and transportation has been canceled in some of america's biggest cities. it's about 90 centimeters before all of this is done and dusted. the blizzard is also taking aim at massachusetts. in fact that's where some of the heaviest snow could fall in the next few hours. let's go to nick valencia joining us on the line in boston. what is the latest there? how is the snow? how heavy is it right now? >> caller: it has been coming down steadily over the course of the last hour. we've seen it pick up all throughout the day. so far, this seems to be the

worst of it with more still to come. 4:00 is supposed to be the peak of this storm, according to the massachusetts governor. that coincides with high tide. so there is a small concern for flooding. meanwhile, we've been driving in boston around the downtown area. for the most part, people are adhering to that guidance staying off the road. there is a travel ban. with the exception of some members of the media. we have been granted to drive throughout the streets, but it is very messy out here. emergency crew workers. we've seen them working. i spoke to one just a while ago who said he'd been out here since 7:00. so cold his eyebrows had icicles on them. >> oh, wow. >> caller: and other people around here residents of boston walking through the streets. they say they just wanted to be part of something historic which is why they're braving the elements. >> i hope you're staying warm out there. i do want to ask you, power outages, certainly a major

concern. are the utility companies out there ready for this? this could be a major test for them. >> caller: absolutely. they've been preparing for this taking it very seriously. the governors in multiple states in the new england area, massachusetts governor well ahead of that in terms of preparations. we haven't heard too many power outages, last hour we heard from brooke baldwin that there were only about 200 people without power, which is exceptional when you consider the force of this blizzard on the way here. and through the courtse of the last hour the wind is really stinging around. and that is a problem, add and compounded in the fact that there's so much snow coming down. >> that wind-chill factor is always biting. hey, nick so one issue has obviously been trying to clear the roads, which is why they've banned all the traffic and told everyone to stay off the roads,

not just for a safety issue, but a couple years ago it was an issue because there were so many cars there. have they managed to get any snowplows out there to clear? >> caller: oh, sure. we've seen several plows, everywhere from outside of private businesses to hotels to out here around the street. the majority of the cars that are out on the street right now, with the exception of us and a few others we're looking at a taxi here are emergency workers, people making sure that when boston yans wake up tomorrow morning that they'll be able to step outside and not have too many more issues one would obviously expect to have a lot of issues because of the severe weather. but we've seen local and state crews working vigorously to try to alleviate any of those issues that bostonians will be waking up to tomorrow. >> a lot of people are comparing

this blizzard there in boston to the blizzard of 1970. i'm looking at some of the live pictures on our screen now. you can see the snow coming down. just tell us about visibility. a lot of people are saying the visibility is going to be reduced to about a quarter of a mile. how bad is that? doesn't look too bad from what i can see on the screen. >> caller: let's talk about that. blizzard conditions what does that mean? for the course of three hours, sustained for three hours you have less than a quarter mile of visibility. you have sustained winds of 35 miles per hour. i'm sure our meteorologist can speak more to those facts, but right now what we see is we are able to see for miles so that visibility hasn't been affected too bad. our engineer doing a great job of driving through the streets, at times our tires haven't had much traction on the road. but the biggest problem has bnt ice on the windshield. when we first got into the car, the windshield was very icy and

every now and then we have to stop and pull over to clear our windshield. but visibility not too much of an issue, but we do expect it to get much worse as the evening progresses. >> we appreciate you being out there giving us the very latest. >> drive very slowly. we want you to stay safe. we appreciate this work you're doing for us there. >> nick valencia on the line from boston. and our derek van dam is also covering this for us. he is in new york. so derek, describe the scene for us. i know we're coming into the area where the most amount of snow is expected to fall. what's it like right now? >> caller: right now we are looking at snowfall in central park of around 2 to 3 inches per hour. so the snowplows that keep coming through were just around the columbus circle area. snowplows come through. 15 minutes later, the snow has piled up already in those areas that they piled through. so it's coming down very intense

at the moment. and we've already experienced about 6.5 inches here by the cnn center. >> derek, just a quick question for you new york city basically banning all forms of travel. if you are on the roads, you'll get a $300 ticket the new york city city subway is shut down. i used to live in new york until a couple of months ago. how rare is that? how rare is it for the entire city to shut down all forms of transportation. it does snow in new york almost every year. >> caller: as far as i understand this is actually the first time that the subway has been completely closed because of the weather. the roads and the overpasses and the bridges connecting manhattan island those have been closed before but it's the subways that seem to be kind of a first time type thing. interesting that we do have this full ban on all travel here

but, you know looking back here at columbus circle i've just seen a pedestrian vehicle drive by. so most people are adhering to this rule. >> okay. though should be careful not to get a ticket out there. >> we look forward to the next couple of days. this all should be done by like, tuesday. but later on in the week we have average or below average temperatures and also some storms coming as well. and that's going to make the clean up quite difficult. >> caller: yeah, below freezing will just kind of make this matter worse. that means that the ground doesn't have the opportunity to thaw out and melt the snow and allow for the pavement to come through. so black ice will be a concern going forward. but in the midterm and the short term really john and zain it's the next six hours where we're going to see the heaviest of snow and the strongest of winds and the lowest wind chill temperatures that we're expecting. well below freezing. and then past that even though

the snow starts to taper off by midday tomorrow that being tuesday on the east coast of the united states that doesn't mean the storm is done. it's still just off the atlantic seaboard the new england coast, and that means winds will still be a factor. so that fresh fallen snow will get blown and drifted right over those freshly-plowed roads and streets. >> okay derek, we appreciate the update and we will hopefully talk to you again very soon. try and stay warm. i know we've been saying that to you all night. >> i do not miss new york right now. our good friend chris welsh has been roving around what is it like where you are? where exactly are you first of all and what is it like in terms of visibility? >> reporter: sure well we are, right now, we are essentially in the heart of manhattan. we're in the center. we're in times square where many

people refer to at crossroads of america. we are the only car on the street. nypd has given the media some type of exemption tonight, but the rest of the city, traffic is banned and was banned starting at 11:00. so for the past two hours or so there really haven't been any cashes. most people have heeded that warning, and as i say that, there's a mini van, looks like that could have been media as well. but for the most part everything is desolate in terms of traffic. the subway systems have been shut down the bus systems shut down essentially all public transit here in manhattan, in new york and really a lot of it throughout the state, has been shut down as well. now as far as conditions go here the snow really picked up, i'd say, picked up again, i should say, within the last hour. but for a good two or three hours, we sort of saw a lull

where there wasn't much snow coming down at all. we had a good amount of it for a couple hours around 7:00 8:00. but now we're seeing it again. and we're being told by our good friends at the weather department at cnn that there's a band of heavier snow that we here at manhattan, we could be on the edge of it but it could very slowly start to inch its way towards over the next several hours. we could sigh those winds start to pick up again as well. of course we'll keep you posted. >> the thing that struck me in the lead up to this storm. we pretty much saw every governor and mayor in the region telling them to stay off the streets, a big storm was coming. it seems like that was unprecedented. did they coordinator all this together? did they work out their strategy? they knew this big storm was coming and they put this message out there working together?

>> reporter: it really does seem like there was a pretty good amount of coordination and at least, i can say from here on the new york city side of things from the new york state side of things it seem the like new york city mayor bill die blaus yoe and governor cuomo really wanted to get out ahead of this and they did not mince words when they said that this storm had the potential to be life threatening, deadly. this storm had the potential to be historic. of course the models that we have seen over the last couple of days really showed that this could have been, really, a history maker. one for the books. you know we saw 2006 saw over 26 inches of snow. that was, that's essentially the largest snowfall here on the record books. there was some thought that we could hit that tonight. now, if you were to look at the streets where we are now, one might say it doesn't look like we're going to get there. of course there's still a chance. we could get a big blow tonight

over the next several hours, but i think most folks would guess, at least where we are in the heart of manhattan, we might not see that record-breaking snowfall here tonight. >> very quickly, when we look around you, we see people standing on the street. are they just new yorkers who have decided to walk around and have a look? >> it does look to be a lot of people walking around they don't look like emergency services. >> quarter past 1:00 in the morning. >> reporter: exactly, exactly. and we arrived in times square here a few minutes ago. we had been on park avenue there was nobody on park avenue. and it's funny, when you get to times square we literally are seeing there's about a dozen people over there a handful of people over there, really playing. gawkers, and you lookers. we're in times square, so we have to remember there are hotels. this is essentially tourist central. so what we are seeing are people who are probably visitors to new york wanting to get out and see this. and of course we've got an unprecedented storm here an

unprecedented situation whereas we've been talking about tonight, the city has been shut down. that in and of itself is a news story. so there are of course those handfuls of people who want to come out, be a part of it and some people who, you know just want to get out and play in it which, of course everyone saying stay inside. >> >> we have a sergeant from the hyannis police department on the line for us to give us an update on the situation in massachusetts, because we're expecting that high tide at 4:00 in the morning, which is about 3:45 from now. so mark with the hyannis police department how are you preparing for the coastal areas which are expecting those 20-foot waves and coastal flooding? >> caller: yes, good morning sir. we have extra staffing on

tonight. we're manning everything that we can in the town to make sure that we're prepared. we have our local sheriff's department is manning an emergency management center up in our town. we have representatives from the sheriff's department as well as enstar there. we have six shelters open across the cape specifically in our town we have one shelter open that is staffed by medical and police. we have approximately 14 people that are out leading the shelter at this point. the town also has department of public works services which are all up and running, as you can imagine, every plow available is out working. it is near whiteout conditions at this point as we have upwards of a foot of snow right now at this facility here. and we're hunkering down and just doing whatever people need at this point to make sure that everyone's safe. >> and sergeant, cabrel, how likely is it that you are going to see people along the coastline being forced to

evacuate from their homes? is that a likely possibility right now? >> caller: we have we're expecting a high tide around 4:00. we have bay to the north and open ocean to the south. so it will affect it in different ways. at this point we're going to wait it out and sigh what happens. and we're staffed and ready. i want to urge anyone in the area that may be watching that nobody should be out except for emergency personnel or snowplow personnel at this point. >> have you seen anybody out and about? >> caller: on my in i saw nothing but plow trucks, which was great news. we've had fairly minimal disturbances. so it's pretty quiet other than the storm damage. >> thank you very much for giving us the latest from the coast of massachusetts, where we say they're expecting these huge waves, 20-foot waves and coastal flooding around the area as this storm continues to move up the northeast of the united states. and we will continue to track the very latest on this storm

throughout cnn. this how much to come. but in the next after the break, rather we'll have more on the other states which are feeling the brunt of the blizzard. plus we'll tell you how u.s. intelligence officials say they've broken up a russian spy ring operating out of new york. stay with us.

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blizzard 2015. we will have much more on that in this hour of cnn. but we'll check some other big news for the day. and the fbi has broken up a russian spy ring in new york city. >> the three-man ring collected u.s. banking information and tried to recruit more spies. agents arrested one man who they say was employed in the new york branch of a russian bank but he was actually working for russian intelligence services. two other men associated with the ring left the country before they could be arrested. the man who operated a drone that crashed on the grounds of the white house called the secret service and is said to be cooperating with investigators. the man is a government employee who was flying the drone as recreation. kurdish fighters are celebrating after reportedly gaining control of kobani. >> the kurds have pushed isis out of the embattled syrian

town. they've been fighting there for four months to try and control this strategic city. kobani's deputy foreign minister has called for a humanitarian center to help refugees. meanwhile, the first full day of power after the elections in greece. >> it's a challenge which will be led by this man right here he's the leader of the left wing syriza party which was sworn in on monday. he was sworn in as the new prime minister. that was after forming a coalition with the right wing independent greeks party. >> he is said to renegotiate the terms of greece's bailout. >> grease is absolutely irreversibly committed to staying in the euro zone. you see the problem is that once

you're in, just like you will recall the eagle's song "hotel california", you can check out anytime you want but you can never leave? this is going to have detrimental effects throughout you know and the economy. >> a bit of humor there. as he wraps up a three-day visit to india president obama says the u.s. can become india's biggest partner. >> he underscored the country's deepening defense ties. >> the united states welcomes a greater role for india in the asia pacific where the freedom of navigation must be upheld and disputes must be resolved peacefully. and even as we acknowledge the world as it is we must never stop working for the world as it should be. a world without nuclear weapons.

that should be a dwoel for all of us. >> mr. obama heads to saudi arabia next where he will be offering condolences after the death king abdullah and pay his respects to the new king salman. on monday president of argentina announced she wanted to dissolve the intelligence service to make things more transparent. >> and this man was investigating the 1994 bombing of a jewish center in buenos aires. iran denies it was involved. we'll have the latest on the storm sweeping the north iron

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welcome back to cnn. thanks for watching us. let's break down exactly what's happening here. as far as the numbers are concerned, across the infrastructure world, what has transpired in the past several hours, what expected to

transpire, we know cancellations on monday and tuesday already exceeding 7,100 flights. keep in mind the major three airports they've canceled about 4200 flights in this two-day period. boston pushing nearly 1,000 and philadelphia 1300. on a good day, they have 4,000 flights depart out of their airport. 92% of flights out of newark canceled. and of course the numbers are expected to increase. the city of new york certainly taking this very seriously. 1800 plows. some 126,000 tons of salt are going to be used inside the next 12 or so hours. they have to clear some 6,000 miles of roadways from new york city to los angeles back to new york city in the next 12 or so hours ahead of the system and

after the storm system departs. you think the airline industry is losing a lot of money? they certainly are. about $6,000 per flight. much higher number for the passengers that number for them would be about $58,000 combined losses when you factor in the meals, lodging and also lost work. so a lot of money and a lot of damage here across the northeast for the next couple of days. we'll have more news with john and zain coming up shortly. you only know in a fire to get out, to escape and now ok you are outside and you are safe but what do you do now and that's where the red cross came in... . we ran out of the house just wearing our pajamas. at that point just to even have a toothbrush that i could call my own was so important... . ...you know it just makes you feel like a person again.

every 8 minutes the american red cross responds to a home fire or other emergency. you can help. please donate now.

welcome back to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. if are you in the u.s. right now, you may want to listen up because the blizzard of 2015 that's what they're calling it

is shutting down some of america's biggest cities. you've got travel bans in place, transportation canceled. >> it is being described as historic and destructive. this storm could affect 58 million people. and the farther east and north you go the greater the impact and the greater the snowfall. when all is said and done. some areas might just see up to 3 feet or 90 centimeters of snow. and an update now on the measures in place under some states under an emergency declaration. new york has issued a travel ban in 13 counties as well as new york city. roads, bridges and tunnels are closed. the governor of massachusetts is calling this historic top five storms. wind gusts approaching hurricane force, that is the word we're

using over and over again. and in new jersey the transit sis tell is shut down governor chris christie says it will be wednesday at the earliest before state workers return to their jobs. he has issued a state-wide travel ban. connecticut also has a state-wide travel ban in place. the governor says the state is bracing for up to 120,000 homes and businesses to lose power. obviously posing problems for utility companies there. the message to residents? stay home, stay safe. the key message is do not venture outside. if you're in new york city you're going to economically get a $300 fine. >> stay home stay indoors. >> bryan, we hear you're going inside the new york city city subways for us. >> can you hear him? >> we're having a little bit of

trouble hearing you right now. let's try and work that out, because you're there on the corner of 14th and subway station rather 14th. >> he was going to take us inside the subway station. >> this is the fourth time the subway has been closed. they've closed it before because of storm surges. we have brian back now. where exactly are you and what's the situation there? >> reporter: i'll go ahead and give this a try. the plows are going by. it's hard to hear. we're at 14th and 8th avenue. major thoroughfares in both directions and we'll try to walk you down in the subway here and show you what it's like. this is the first time the new york city subway system has actually shut down because of snow. there have been a couple other times where they've had closures and that's due to hurricanes. and most recently hurricane sandy. >> whoa careful, brian. >> he's okay. let him go.

>> are you okay? >> keep going. >> reporter: it's okay. >> keep going. you're fine. >> reporter: so i'll tell you what's most interesting about this. the mta, the metropolitan transit authority is still running trains overnight, but the trains that are running are empty. they are trying to keep some of the trains and some of the tracks clear of snow. >> hey brian, your shot is upside down. can you turn your camera around for us? >> hey brian flip it around. there we go. >> perfect, perfect. >> we thought you were walking on the roof. okay. so they're keeping the trains running because they want to try and keep the tracks clear? >> reporter: that's right. i can actually hear a train downstairs right now passing by. and it's sort of confusing to people. because they can hear trains running, but they are not allowed to enter. it says pretty clearly, no entry. this is the only time this system's been closed because of snow. and if this storm does not pan

out to be as bad as it is expected to be there's going to be a lot of angry new yorkers who weren't able to get home tonight. just in the past hour the winds and snow have picked up here. >> i guess a lot of people are asking, if they can run the trains to keep the tracks clear with no one on them why can't they run the trains with people on them to keep the tracks clear? >> reporter: you can even hear they're doing one of their automated announcements which is kind of funny. i've already seen people asking that exact same question on twitter, why can't they allow folks out here. but it does seem to be a safety decision first and foremost. i'm walking back upstairs. >> be careful. >> reporter: it does seem to be a safety decision to keep people off of the streets, and i've only seen about six or seven people out here in the hour that i've been standing outside. six or seven people for the whole hour. and i'll tell you what all of them are doing, guys they're all taking selfies in the snow.

every single person out here, holding up their phone, taking the photo because you're never going see all these big thoroughfares completely closed off. >> everyone in new york has raided every whole foods store in the tri state area and are hunkering down inside. >> reporter: that is right. and now they wait. they wait to see when they can go back to work and head back to school. schools have closed here on tuesday. maybe wednesday as well. we'll find out. >> okay brian, great stuff. we appreciate it. we're going into the subway giving us a great first-hand look at exactly what's happening there, 1:30 in the morning in new york. >> and holding his own camera. >> he's a good employee. he does it all. >> we want to go to derek van dam who is in new york. we miss you here. tell us what you are seeing there. you are at columbus circle. what's going on behind you? >> reporter: i am at columbus

circle. and i echo some of the sentiments that the reporter just said about walking down the streets of manhattan with no one on the roads, no cars. nobody. and that is an absolutely eerie feeling, but it's good that they did that because the snow's coming down at quite a pace at the moment. roughly 1 to 2 inches per hour. and we are expecting this heavy snow band to continue in the new york city area with roughly around maybe upwards of 14 to 15 inches. that's over 30 centimeters for our international viewers watching at home. >> you say they've walked back the forecast for the snow. they've gone from what? what are they expecting now? and why? is it because the storm has change the paths or what? >> reporter: it's not that the storm has changed paths. it's just that the band of very heavy snow and the light snow that very periphery is very difficult to tell for meteorologists. so places like boston into

providence rhode island it's just that new york and the hudson river is right on that outer periphery of where we're expecting the very heaviest of the snow. nonetheless, as you can see behind me it is piling up very quickly and won't take much to clog up the roadways. the white stuff just keeps piling up as you can see on my shoulders and has. >> when new yorkers wake up tomorrow and they look outside their window, they're trying to head to work what is your advice for them? how bad is it going to get in new york and what advice do you give to them as they make this way to work. >> reporter: i think one of the biggest mistakes is that they don't heed the warnings from emergency officials. so wait until they say it's all

clear to get back out on the roadways. it really is important. because they're trying to ep coo up with the plowing here. they're doing us a service so we can keep these roads as clean as possible. so that's very, very important. and you asked what can people expect when they wake up in the morning? hopefully they're tuning in now, but when they do wake up for that morning rush hour they're going to see a fresh layer of a foot of snow in new york and possibly 2 to 3 feet of snow into boston massachusetts. >> and they should probably just stay home. >> they have good reason to. >> thanks. >> reporter: studio envy. that's what i have right now. >> thanks derek. when we come back we'll change gears. there is another important news story, and it is the anniversary of ah switch.

the remains of everyone of the years of mass murder rained back down onto the earth and they're still there. and the remains of everyone murdered at ah switch they're still there in the ground. and that's something i'll take to my grave. push your enterprise and you can move the world. ♪ ♪ but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure. from a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. and stay ready for everything that is still to come. [ high-pitched ] nailed it! [ normal voice ] you're right, that was really easy. i know, i told you so. on progressive.com you can compare our progressive direct rates

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okay. well today marks the 70th

anniversary of one of the most devastating moments in our history in the 20th century, the liberation of auschwitz. the nazi concentration camp in german occupied poland. >> this is a day of remembrance as you can remember. soviet troops liberated this camp on this day in 1945. it remains one of the most recognizable symbols of the nazi holocaust. some managed to survived. henry coleman is one of them. he talked to ivan watson about his emotional return to auschwitz since the end of the war. >> when i came here i start crying. i couldn't stop myself. i start, it came up. i wanted to stop. but it came up. i said how much i suffered here. all my family was gone. they killed my family, my parents, sisters, were gone. but, but i got out.

do i, i didn't know if i'd get out. i got out here. luck i tell you something. it's luck. >> academy award winning director steven spielberg filmed outside the gates. >> he shared with us. take a listen. ♪ ♪ >> i didn't know it was my calling until schindler's list came into my life. i even shot outside of the gates of auschwitz. [ screaming ] >> it is a place that will stay on you. i have a vivid imagination, but

i won't take my imagination to auschwitz. it was one of the most efficient killing machines that anyone has ever experienced throughout history. i smelled the hopelessness. when i went into the barracks and i watched the swribling and i'd see a flower that someone painted on a wall, and i realized that through all these years of hopelessness there was in fact hope. there were little there was evidence of maybe there is going to be a future for me. and my family. maybe. age in most cases that wasn't to happen. the first time i visited, we were absolutely appalled at one thing. the tour guide who took us through auschwitz was organized. never mentioned the word jew.

and never mentioned the numbers. just said many innocent people were killed here and did not mention that the jews had been murdered at auschwitz. that kind of upstaged. i was angry about that for a long time. but when i walked down the rail line to the end of where the tracks ended, and i went over to where the cream tory was, i just felt the ghosts. i just felt the ghosts. i didn't feel that i was destined to tell the story until i visited poland for the first time. and went to auschwitz and spent time on the actual locations. it suddenly occurred to me that this was something more than a movie.

that the movie was going to be a foot in the door but the door that i needed to open was these testimonies. >> people were taken away. >> and disseminate them all over the world. through the visual history foundation in 1994. this was my second bar mitzvah. i've been adopted by thousands of survivors. i feel like their grandson. my wife and i wanted to go back to auschwitz to pay our respects. our rabbi came with us to say prayer. and you put your hand in that water in this mudhole. it was very soggy. it had been raining, and i put my hand in there and brought my hand out, and there was white, sort of bone meal all over my hands. because the remains of everyone over those years of mass murder rained back down onto the earth.

excuse me. and they're still there. and the remains of everyone murdered at auschwitz. they're still there in the ground. and that's something ill he'll take to my grave. >> very touching. steven spielberg there reflecting on auschwitz. and we have a programming note for you. don't miss our special "voices of auschwitz" hosted by wolf blitzer tuesday at noon. and 2100 gmt for our international viewers. >> and please watch it wednesday night 9:00 eastern. and when we come back the very latest on what's being called a potentially historic blizzard which is battering the north iron use at this hour.

. welcome back. for the first time since the u.s. began talks with cuba about restoring diplomatic ties we are hearing from fidel castro. >> the following message was released. i don't trust u.s. policy and i've not exchanged a word with them. this does not mean, however, that i would oppose a peaceful solution to conflicts or threats of war. we shall always defend the cooperation of all people among them our political adversaries. a national day of celebration in australia has turned into a day of widespread

criticism of the conservative prime minister. tony abbott awarded the highest order to britain's prince philip on australia day. he says he has been a great servant of australia but many were left stunned by the move. >> we have a government couldn't find an australian to give one of these awards to. labor doesn't believe we should go back to dames and knights. if we're going to have a system let's give it to australians. >> the reintroduction of the knights and dame the honor system drew a lot of criticism. he said then it was intended to recognize preeminent australians. i want to give you an update now on that major snowstorm we've been talking about pounding the northeastern united states shutting down a number of states it's being described

as a potentially historic and destructive winter storm. we're being told this could impact up to 58 million people across seven states. >> states of emergency have been declared in new york, new jersey connecticut, new hampshire and rhode island. when all of this is over some areas might just see three feet or 90 centimeters of snow. let's get the update on the latest conditions. some places not as bad as they thought? what about the rest? >> it's a little too early to tell. the new york city forecast may be a little less than what was initially forecast. so it's going to be impressive nonetheless. but boston still in line for pretty impressive snow totals. take a look at this. the areas in gray the dull gray and the light gray. that's light snowshowers.

notice the bands of white here that's the heavy snow pushing in towards new york city. and you may have seen footage we have access to across that region. heavy snowfall in this region as indicated in the white with pockets of light snow indicated in gray. the snowfall the heaviest of which in the forecast over the next 12 to 14 hours or so. wind gusts across this region, look at montauk, right there on the eastern shores of long island wind gusts close to 50 miles per hour. the big cities generally 25 to 30 miles per hour. still, the peak intensity of these winds expected shortly into the morning hours. 65 to 75 mph around boston. when you take a look at that power outages going to be a concern along that might coastline. here's the culprit, this storm

system pushing over the gulf stream. and the water temperatures relatively warm. 47 degrees fahrenheit 8, 9 degrees celsius. not warm for you and i, but for this environment. when a tropical feature works over the gulf of mexico 85 86 this system is going to have that type of impact. that's why we think the snow intensity is really going to pick up in the next several hours into the overnight hours as the winds also pick up. here's the updated forecast through noon on wince. notice new york city an additional 8, 10 inches. and then work your way, look at long island 12 to 24 inches. in a matter of just a few kilometers east of the city and you work your way to boston it looks like 2 feet is a

possibility across that region with this forecast. >> we should brace ourselves for the worst. >> there is one area of good news. the peak of it comes in at this hour. if this were to happen at 9:00 10:00, a lot more people would be tempted to be outside. >> and they're already clearing the streets. they're making progress. today they can write today off wednesday. >> a million kids out of school. >> wow. >> thank you so much for watching. i'm zain asher. >> and i'm john vause. cnn will be live as the worst bears down. stay with us. alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours but aleve can last 12 hours. and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are ya? good. aleve. proven better on pain. you want i fix this mess? a mess? i don't think --

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hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and across the world. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. we are your anchor team here on cnn for the next two hours. coming up in the next 60 minutes, the first blizzard of 2015 slamming into the northeastern u.s. right now with hurricane-force gusts and up to three feet of snow expected in some areas. >> no driving. no school. no flights. authorities in seven states tell people to stay home or face fines. also coming up celebrations in ka