it could be a matter of life and death. that's not being overly dramatic. >> states of emergency. governors sound the alarm as a blizzard packing near-hurricane-force spin slams into the american northeast. the u.s. president lands in the saudi capital in just a few hours. we are live from riyadh to look at the significance of that trip. we'll get you live to poland this hour where survivors of auschwitz return to mock the 70th anniversary of the concentration camp's liberation. hello, everyone.

welcome to our viewers in the united states and, of course around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. right now we're looking at statewide travel bans. thousands of flights canceled and public transportation suspended in some of america's biggest cities. >> we are tracking the blizzard of 2015 as it creeps up the northeastern u.s. coast. tens of millions of people are already feeling the impact, and for some the worst is yet to come. >> you're seeing some of the live radar there. hard-hit areas of massachusetts can see up to three feet of snow. that's about 90 centimeters before this is done. wind gusts are nearing hurricane force. they will cause widespread power outages and coastal flooding. the message to resigns, stay home and stay safe. >> whiteout conditions and treacherous roads will make driving anywhere extremely dangerous. i can't stress this part enough. please stay off the roads.

>> that's for residents and emergency vehicles they say allowed on the roads now. and there were media outlets that have been granted special permission. our nick valencia among them joining us from the streets of boston where we want to nick in a region expected to be hit hard how is it faring at 3:00 a.m. as the storm ton move in? >> reporter: yeah 3:00 a.m. in the morning east coast time, but an hour away from what is predicted to be the height of the storm. earlier we heard from the massachusetts state governor who said that there was concern that there could be flooding because high tide around 4:00 a.m. eastern coincides with what will be they say, considered to be the peak of the storm. right now as we slowly inch through the streets of boston, it's miserable here. miserable road conditions. we have to give a lot of credit to our engineer who's driving us safely through the streets. we've seen a lot of emergency

vehicles in the streets. a lot of plows. these are very unsafe roads. a while ago, we had a plow come in front of us run a light close to our vehicle. that gives you a sense of how difficult these roads are to navigate. for the most part, these residents have adhered to the travel ban at midnight eastern. the travel ban that was put into place by massachusetts state governor. and for the most part most of the vehicles on the road are vehicles that are doing their job, clearing the roads, trying to make these conditions a lot better so when bostonians wake up tomorrow they're not stepping into what could be the worst of it. this blizzard the blizzard warning expected to last well through wednesday. there's another full day of this to go here in massachusetts. the big problem i'd say in the last hour we somehow incremental increase in that snowfall that has since decreased. but the issue in the last hour has really been the wind.

that wind -- it at times can be really really brutal. i was talking to one taxicab driver a while ago when we made a pit stop at the gas station. he said he's still picking people up, going on the highway. he saw a vehicle spin out. we heard earlier from the massachusetts state police on their twitter, that that there have been incidents of cars losing control on the road. so far, no injuries and that is the good sign. on our trip we've only seen one stranded car. and the police officer i spoke to in the incident says he hasn't seen anything else other than that. that is the good news. you know listen to the state officials if are you watching in the massachusetts area now. it's best to stay indoors and not come outside. >> it's rosemary here. that is great advice isn't it? for the most part people have been listening to that and staying out of the vehicles. that seeps to be the big difference we're seeing on the streets. that aside, i want to talk about

power outages because it hasn't been as bad as a lot of people thought it would be. of course we don't know what's going to happen in the next hour or so. talk to us about that why you think it has been so much better in terms of power outages. heating is a big issue here. >> reporter: to the credit of local officials here they were ahead of the storm and got out front and center at news conferences over the weekend telling the residents that they have to be prepared. as we've traveled through the streets, i don't know if you can see the view out the front of our car here. you know these lights seem to be working still as we're passing by residences and apartment buildings. we see that lights are still on, people seem to be not losing power. we don't have official numbers. we'll try get those for the next hit. so far state officials haven't released official numbers of how significant power outages have been. if it's any indication from our

snapshot and perspective of what we've seen it's that things seem to be running relatively normal. if you could say that considering how much snow there is out there on the ground. and you know massachusetts officials saying it could get much worse, rosemary. >> nick valencia joining us there as he travels through the streets of boston. many thanks to you and the incredible images. >> live pictures from the vehicle. thankfully you only see snowplows out there. you only see emergency vehicles out there. people taking the advice -- >> that's key, isn't it? >> it is key. we also have our derek -- we don't have derek van dam at the moment. a number of correspondents along the u.s. northeast coast as we see which areas are getting hardest hit. which areas like pennsylvania, for example, where it doesn't appear to be as bad. >> let's bring in our pedram javaheri. he has more details. we need to understand what is ahead because that's the thing. seems that it's not as bad as a lot of people have been told.

because of that they've got a lot of these great preparations in place. we don't know what's coming how bad, this be? >> you know, it depends, of course on which city you're pinpointing. new york city a city we talked about often in the last 24 to 36 hours, the models said 15 or 25 somewhere in the middle. another six to seven inches possible. that takes us close to 14 to 15 inches when it's said and done. look at the eco-pancive cloud field. 3,000 kilometers 2,000 miles. that's the storm system across the tennessee valley all the way across into the atlantic ocean as far as how far it spans. across the city of new york 1, 1,-800 plows. 12,000 ton of salt have been placed. officials have to work some 6,000 miles of roadways across the city in the next 12 or so hours. that's the equivalent of going from new york to los angeles back to new york in the next 12 hours. that's how much snow they have to remove out of the city. shows you even the 15 inches

maybe not the 20 or 25 that new york city initially suspected. even then, it's going to be a significant weathermaker. take a look. gray areas show the best light to moderate snowfall. the heavier snow in the white. that's across eastern portions of long island. connecticut into massachusetts. i would say over the next seven ten hours, we'll get moderate snowfall across new york city. certainly could pick up heavy snow. when it's said and done, it's going to be here when it comes to records going down. worcester to boston plymouth cape cod. snowfall around two feet over the regions. the winds also of course a big story. 45 to 55 miles per hour in and around new york city. going to be a major issue. this is category one hurricane force from unanimous tuck tote portions of boston. 75 mile-per-hour gusts are possible. so you put that together with all the foliage, with all the himself across the region, potentially come down. the coastal areas would have widespread possible for power outages, becomes more scattered

the farther inland they go. even more into interior new england, a spotty sort of event when it comes to outages across the region. here are the wind speeds as far as gusts in the past six hours, notice closing in on 50 miles per hour in and around montauk and eastern long island. the snowfall heaviest again indicated in the white, staying generally north of new york city. we have had bands of heavy snow in new york city. the models indicate the storm system is situated now over the gulf stream. this is the reason why the next stoechb ten hours will see tremendous snowfall. the storm moving over a relatively warm body of water, 47 degrees over the gulf stream. that's fahrenheit nine or so degrees celsius. not warm for you and i, but warm for the storm system. similar to a tropical storm going over a warm, say 5-degree fahrenheit waters. it's going to draw tremendous moisture. and that will culminate here over portions of we think, boston. potentially eight to ten more inches left in new york. still about a two foot amount possible in eastern massachusetts over the next seven to ten hours. >> just extraordinary.

i mean you have to -- the planning has been pretty extraordinary, hasn't it? making sure that people are not on the roads, that is really key in this whole thing. >> absolutely. people get caught up saying hey, the forecast models said this you said this. when its which down to it everyone seems to have heeded the warnings. a lot of people have. that is fantastic news. even new york getting the seven inches we've seen. that's more than what they've seen so far this season. we think that will double about 14 to 15. that will trip whale they've seen from the one storm. >> yeah. >> to be safe certainly. >> it is definitely going keep people safe. >> we've seen bad planning in the past. good to see good planning. thank you very much pedram javaheri many thanks. we'll have more on our top story coming up. we'll have some tips how to stay safe in conditions like this if you're in the middle of a massive storm sweeping through the u.s. plus argentina's president wants a major policy shift after a controversial death of a government prosecutor. details coming up.

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recorded 62 mile-per-hour winds in nantucket. >> now emergency declarations have been issued in at least seven states. and most schools, streets, and workplaces in new england will be empty on tuesday. we're going to connect with dana rosenguard spokesman for the american ro. joins us on the phone. dana one of the things we're noticing as we kind of survey our corns in the different big cities is that most people are taking the advice to stay off the streets. how do things look from where you are? i'm wondering if technology and text alerts and message everywhere have helped keep people safer this time around. >> yes, good morning to both of you and to all of the viewers. it looks very much like a winner hurricane out there right now. and things are quite clear and desolate. and as you say, people did take the warnings of our governor and here specifically in boston of our mayor to get our cars off the roads.

get them out of the way of the cleaning apparatus. and to allow those official to put the city become in order so maybe tomorrow we can get back to business. >> talk about some of the tips that you would give to people who have to hunker down for today and possibly the day after that. we don't know, of course it could be a little longer than that. and also this disaster kit that the red cross likes to ensure that people have. >> reporter: for people who have to go outside eventually to clean off their own porches and sidewalks and what have you, it's person to stay warm. it's basicallying in that the red cross tries to remind people about wearing layers. when you're out shoveling shoveling is hard work. it is important to take frequent breaks and to stay hydrated. you talk about the emergency

kits and these too, are basic items that by now we hope people do have. fresh water for several days food for several days. certainly batteries to run radios and other things in the event that people were to lose power. >> what about the advice for tomorrow dana? people will be waking up in a couple of hours all along the east coast after hopefully stocking their shelves with essentials. what advice would you give as far as if people don't have -- if the kids don't have to go to school. if you're able to stay out of work and what circumstances people should if at all, leave their homes if they're in these hardest hit areas close boston. >> well the city is as you know closed down quite tightly. and the airport has closed our t, our subway system is closed. the schools in the city are closed. i believe they are also closed

tomorrow. to put the best spin on this sort of thing is to up, enjoy the time that you have. and you know it can be a lot of fun for the young people to go out and play in the snow of course. and we just want to reiterate that people need to be careful when they are out there cleaning off the sidewalks and porches and the steps and their cars. and you know, really here in boston, it's all about trying to be back to normal for wednesday. >> and dana rosenguard, talk about those people. we're looking at the conditions. some people will not have access to heating smm people will be in dire circumstances even if they hunkered down in their home. what role will red cross take in situations like this? >> well we are great in situations like this to be honest. we have millions of people -- excuse me hundred of volunteers prepared to help the millions of

people who are being affected by the storm up and down the east coast. we are working with the local and state officials supporting and supplying shelters that are being opened. we may also go to warming centers for people who are specifically without heat and a place that they can come and warm up during this cold time, too. >> many thanks for joining us and sharing tips great advice there for people who are really you know going to be hunkered down for a couple of days now. very cold conditions and person information you shared with us. many thanks again. we do want to skmek other stories now. the aviation authority in the united arab emirates has suspendeded commercial flights in baghdad. that's after the airline fly dubai said one of its passenger planes landed in the iraqi capital with fuselage damage

possibly from small arms fire. the company says no passengers were injured. the fbi says it's broken up a russian spy ring in new york city. a court document says 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. he was actually working for russian intelligence services. the 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 ground of the white house called the secret service and is said to be cooperating with investigators. a sources the man is a government employee who was flying the drone for recreation. the white house was locked down early machine morning after an officer spotted that drone flying low. argentina's president wants to dissolve the country's intelligence service in response to the controversial death of a special prosecutor. the prosecutor accused the

president of a cover-up in the investigation of a 1994 bombing. he was found dead just hours before he was to testify to congress. shasta darlington has more on what the proposal means for the country. >> reporter: it took eight days but the president of argentina finally addressed the nation about the death of special prosecutor alberto nisman. the same prosecutor who accused the president and foreign minister of covering up iran's involvement in the 1994 bombing of a jewish center. they did this days before his body was found in the bathroom of his apartment. a bullet through his head. just days before he was due to appear before congress to provide some of that testimony. in a televised address on monday night which last good an hour the president announced that she's going dissolve the intelligence service of argentina. this is important because in a facebook post a few days before she had accused rogue spies of

purposely misleading nisman in the investigation. and then said that he -- they could even be responsible for his death. now the idea is she's sending a bill to congress. the intelligence service will be dismantled and would be replaced by a federal intelligence agency. many of the functions being transferred to different powers in the government. now another interesting detail here. this is a mystery that has so many layers and complications. the president seems to be coming out with a different theory every day. and an initial facebook post she called it a suicide then blamed the rogue spies. on monday night, she said the person who should be investigated is the close friend and employee of nisman who lent him the opinion.22-caliber gun that was use -- the .22-caliber gun that was used to kill him. this could be another layer, another person that the chief investigator was following. in fact, she charged him with a

firearm infraction on monday for lending the arm to somebody who didn't have authorization to use it. expect more details and complications in coming days. shasta darlington cnn, buenos aires. ten people killed in spain after an f-16 crash on monday. this of at a base southeast of madrid. a spanish official says the f-16 went down during takeover and slammed into other planes on the ground. two of the victims were greek pilots. also killed eight french military personnel, 21 other people were hurt. all right. let's take a short break now. still to come on cnn, the blizzard of 2015 shuts down major cities in the northeastern united states. we are live in new york and in boston for the latest updates.

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millions of people are staying indoors in the northeastern u.s. as a big snowstorm makes its way up the coast. >> a number of states have essentially shut down. officials have closed schools, roads, and public transportation with heavy snow and strong winds moving from maryland through maine and on into canada. more than 4,000 flights are canceled for tuesday alone out of new york new jersey,

philadelphia and boston airports. that's sure to have a knock-on effect to flights globally. meteorologist derek van dam has been watching all of this and the snow fall around him in new york and can joining us to give us a sense on if record snowfall will happen where you are or if it seems as though the storm is really going to hit further northeast of where you are. >> reporter: errol, i hope you can see the snow falling down in this shot. it's actually just started to pick up once again on the west side of manhattan here. just near columbus circle outside of central park. the big question as you've posed, is will this break record in the big apple? doesn't quite look like it. if you remember back in 2006 that's when we had the biggest snowstorm in new york's history, 26.9 inches. this one we're teetering on about 15 to 16 inches here where i'm standing just outside of central park. we've got about eight inches on

the ground so far. heavy band still moving through periodically. it's the wind that's picked up and that's brought the windchill temperatures down. and i'm having actually a bit of trouble keeping these finger and toes warm. >> derek van dam in new york. in the next few hours, if that's that snow that you're starting to see pick up again continues, does that then look like we'll reach these record numbers? >> reporter: i think we need to start focusing on where the heaviest snow is setting up now. places like hartford connecticut. the eastern part of long island into parts of massachusetts. and into rhode island that is where we have the current heaviest snow bands right now where i'm standing in manhattan, in new york city. we're talking snowfall rates of an inch to two inches. some of the heavier bands have picked that up periodically. it's not been persistent. nevertheless the plows are really out in full force.

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thanks for staying with us i'm errol barnett. >> i'm church church. forecasters in -- i'm rosemary church. forecasters in the u.s. say the worst is yet to come. the blizzard of 2015 is pounding the northeastern states. millions from maryland to canada are being told to hunker down and stay off the streets. they are facing strong wind gusts and up to three feet or 91 centimeters of snow.

after a four-month battle kurdish fighters have pushed isis out of kobani. multiple source say kurds have full -- sources say kurds have full control of the town. the deputy foreign minister has called for a humanitarian center to help refugees in the city. the fbi broke up a russian spy ring in new york city. a court document says the three-man ring collected u.s. banking information and tried to recruit more spies. agents arrested one man. two other men associated with the ring left the country before they could be apprehended. we have this information just in to cnn -- the indonesian military says it has stopped search and rescue operations for airasia flight 8501. we understand that the military has been ordered now to pull out of the search area. however, indonesia's search and rescue agency says it will continue trying to recover bodies from the wreckage site.

bad weather thwarted another tampa on monday. divers have found no evidence so far that there are still bodies in the fuselage. but they may be underneath. somber ceremonies to mark the 70 month 00th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz in poland. >> we're connecting with a live signal out of poland as people lay wreaths at a memorial. this is in auschwitz. this is all to remember the more than one million people killed in gas chambers there. soviet troops liberated the camp on this day in 1945. it remains one of the most recognizable symbols of the holocaust during world war ii. our senior international correspondent, ivan watson joins us to talk about this important commemoration. survivors of the horrors that took place in that camp also present there today.

really hard for any of us to place ourselves in their shoes. but what can we expect and what kind of emotions have some of the survivors described to you? >> reporter: the wreath laying that's taking place now which is supposed to involve several survivors of the camp is taking place at a place called the death wall. and that is where the s.s. men from nazi germany executed untold thousands of people with firing squads. there were many, many ways that the estimated 1.1 million victims of this death camp were killed from starvation to disease, and to those gas chambers that are also believed to have been the cause of death of hundreds of thousands of people. again, the death toll estimated at more than 1.1 million people. very difficult to even begin to comprehend. it was 70 years ago that soviet troops marched in to this

compound here and found only about 7,000, 8,000 prisoners left and described as walking skeletons. the grounds were littered with hundreds of corpses, some of them prisoners that were shot as the nazis withdrew from this place. so whether we've seen in the last couple of days and what is being prepared today is a ceremony where survivors of these horrors are coming here. there are fewer and fewer of these survivors still. we've spoken with some of them. they're in their 80s. they're in their 90s. take a listen to what one man, a polish jew who i met yesterday named henry corman listen to what he had to say when he came back to auschwitz for the first time in 70 years since he was a prisoner here. >> when i came here i start crying. i couldn't stop myself. i -- i wanted to stop but it

came out. i said how much i suffered here. all my family of gone. they killed my family my parents, three sisters were gone. but -- but i got out. did i -- didn't know if i'd get out. i got out here. luck. i tell you something, it's luck. >> reporter: there you have a survivor saying it was only luck that allowed this man, who's now 94 years old, he came from westport in the u.s. state of connecticut all the way here. and this are hundred of other survivors here. the organizers of the ceremonies that will take place here say it's very important to listen to these eyewitness testimonies because sadly there may not be very many survivors left ten years from now the next time that people try to gather here. it's even more important to listen to what they have to. and a final point -- it is

bitterly bitterly cold out here. if you can just imagine the conditions that prisoners would have been living in wearing thin denim prison uniforms emaciated, suffering from malnutrition, disease, as well as various forms of torture. very difficult to even imagine the conditions that people lived here in more than 70 years ago. errol? >> ivan the type of event it's important to commemorate so that history doesn't repeat itself again. we'll keep track of this ceremony as it takes place today. thank you very much. okay we're still tracking a potentially life threatening blizzard that's lashing the northeastern u.s. now. >> up to 58 million people are in the storm's path. the snow is falling faster and especially heavy along the coast. winds are also getting stronger. >> as of this moment, seven

governors have drayered states of emergency. where that's happened you've got roads closed thousands of flights canceled. also public transportation suspended in some of the biggest cities in the u.s. also there are a number of travel bans in place. . >> the-- the hardest hit areas seeing up to three feet or 90 centimeters before it's over. >> smaller northeastern communities getting hit hard by the storm. those coastal areas only dealing with the me? we've watched come hour after hour. they also have strong winds. george howell is in providence rhode island. we begin with anna cabrera on the new york coastline. >> reporter: rosemary errol we are on the very end of long island. this is montauk which is a small fishing community currently getting pummelled. you see the snow just blowing all across the roadway here. this is main street. this is the downtown area. and you see not a soul in sight as the storm really bears down.

this is an area expected to get two to three feet of snow by the time this is all over. and in fact that's supposed to continue well into tuesday afternoon. the biggest concerns here are not just the snow but the high winds. wind gusts that are near hurricane force, that are also pushing a huge storm surge into this island community. they are anticipating possible coastal flooding. they're anticipating possible erosion of the beach as 15-foot waves battle the shore. so there are multiple multiple challenges for this community. and power outages, that's another big concern. we saw power out for weeks after superstorm sandy. in this area. and so that is something that people are watching and waiting for to see exactly what happens. rosemary, errol? >> reporter: we're watching wind gusts pick up in providence rhode island. you can see a good example which

you lock down the street. you see the snow blowing in the wind. keep in mind there are no cars on the road. that's a good thing. officials have told residents to stay off this road. there is a travel ban in effect through the night. snowplows, as you see, are doing their best to clear the road. here's the thing. the snow is expected to fall faster than these plows can keep up with. the other big concern is along the coastline here. in the state of rhode island there are many communities in low-lying areas. we know that the wind gusts will get from 60 to 70 miles per hour something that people will have to keep watch of especially as high tide sets in. the other thing that is definitely important as the snow continues to fall people who, get stranded or trapped in their homes. officials asking neighbors to watch out for neighbors. check on neighbors, make sure they have the food water necessities to hunker down and get through what looks to be a

multi-day event. cnn, providence, rhode island. let's take a short break. ahead, the u.s. president and top dignitaries head to saudi arabia to offer condolence and pay respects to the new king. we'll get a preview coming up. former cuban president fidel castro makes his first statement regarding the new relations between the u.s. and cuba. what he said after this.

u.s. president barack obama has wrapped up a three-day visit to india saying the u.s. can become india's best partner. >> he give a speech to an audience in me to dell high a couple hours ago. -- in new delhi a couple of hours ago. he underscored the countries' deepening defense ties. take a listen. the united states welcomes a fraert role for india in the asia pacific where the freedom of navigation must be unheld and disputes must be resolved peacefully. 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 goal for all of us. [ applause ] >> mr. obama is set to arrive in saudi arabia in a few hours from now. he will offer condolence on the death of king abduda and pay his -- abdullah and pay his respects

to the new king. nic robertson joins us with what's ahead. president obama will meet with the new monarch, king salmon, and will talk about a range of topic including isis and yemen. can we expect any changes in the way the new king lead his country on these issues and perhaps other issues? >> reporter: well not in the short term the best analysis at the time. there's no indication that king salmon will change anything king abdullah put in place. king abdullah make changes, taking a much more leading role in determining what the gulf countries, what the region should do about isis. now of course a developing problem. yemen only slipping closer toward being a failed state. the -- certainly president obama is bringing with him a team of people who have been involved in saudi arabia for a long time.

obviously u.s. secretary of state john kerry will be with him. senator mccain been here many times. former secretary of state condoleezza rice long connections with saudi arabia. national security adviser ben roots. the cia chief was stationed here in saudi arabia for a number of years. so the depth and breadth of president obama's team will be able to give him a good analysis because of their connections with king abdullah and, you know his senior officials. will be able to give a good analysis to president obama if they detect any sort of course changes that are coming. i think no one at the moment expects saudi arabia to take a different position. it's been very strong on tackling the problem if syria. it wants to push bashar al assad out of office. wants to crack down on isis. saudis see isis as a very big threat for them because isis itself has said itness to take control of islam's two holiest sites, mecca and medina.

king salmon is in charge of those sites. saw feels threatened by what's happening north of the border. >> the u.s./saudi relationship has had its ups and downs over the years. there are a number of tensions that could possibly be ironed out by a approximatelial visit. how likely is -- a presidential visit. how likely is it that a trip like this could solve tensions between the countries? i'm thinking of syria and egypt particularly. >> reporter: there have been tensions as certainly saudi arabia of hugely disappointed in 2011. the arab spring to how the united states, they felt dropped for president hosni mubarak. the saudis supported him. the saudis now support the new president. saudi upon to be more forward leaning and aggressive. would like to see a force of 50,000 soldiers including international elements inside syria to tackle bashar al assad.

that's a point of deference. perhaps one of the bigger underlying threads is tout handle this. many feel iran is baund the luthy uprise -- is behind the houthi uprising in yemen. they see it taking a greater role in iraq which destabilizes them south of the border. obviously with isis as well and syria. while the united states tries with western powers to negotiate a nuclear deal with iran to empower, if you will the moderates, saudi arabia's concerned that it will do nothing more than just empower the -- empower the conservatives in iran. there's an -- a fundamental difference of opinion there at the moment as well. >> indeed. and nic robertson reporting live from riyadh in saudi arabia. awaiting the arrival of the u.s. president. many thanks to you. errol? now for the first time since the u.s. began talks with cuba

about restoring diplomatic ties we're hearing from former cuban president fidel castro. castro released the following message in cuba's state newspaper. "i don't trust u.s. policies and have 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 and friendship between all people. among them our political adversaries." all right. if you've been watching, you know the blizzard of 2015 is shutting down some of america's biggest cities. you've got travel bans in place, flights canceled and public transportation suspended. >> it's being described as a potentially historic and destructive winter storm that could affect up to 58 million people. just extraordinary numbers. the farther east and north you go the greater the impact and the snowfall. some areas could see up to three

feet or 90 centimeters of snow before this storm is over. and blizzards like this aren't your ordinary snowstorms. >> yeah. in the u.s. they're sometimes called nor'easters. anderson cooper looks at some of the biggest in recent memory. >> reporter: in 1993, they called it the storm of the century. a major nor'easter hit the entire eastern 1/3 of the united states. severe weather in the south and blidss in the north -- blizzards in the north. for the first time in history, all major eastern airports were shut down at the same time. the storm caused more than 300 deaths. in january, 1996 the eastern seaboard of hit by another major nor'easter right on the heels of a government shutdown that put most federal employees on leave. heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions hit cities from washington to new york to boston. nine states were declared disaster areas. 60 people died in that storm.

the great blizzard of 2003 started with snow in the rockies on february 14th. cold temperature and strong winds turned the storm into a full-blown near east that reached its -- nor'easter that reached its full power on presidents' day, february 17th. more than two feet of snow reached from maryland to southern new england. dangerous ice conditions hitting the carolinas and virginia. 42 people were killed in this storm. the biggest winner storm in new york city history hit in february of 2006. a system that dumped snow across the northeast from virginia to maine. 26.9 inches of snow was recorded in central park by the end of the storm. the largest amount of snowfall to date. three back-to-back blizzards hit the northeast in february of 2010. each storm bringing prolonged periods of heavy snowfall. by the end of the last one, 68% of the country of covered in snow. anderson cooper, cnn. there's a bit of a review

but a major storm we're dealing with now. for more on the impact of the flight cancelations and costs involved, let's bring in meteorologist pedram javaheri at the international weather center. at this hour how is everything stacking up? >> reporter: there's no flights expected to take out of laguardia. in a typical day from laguardia to jfk to new york 4,000 flights expected to fly in and out of the airplanes. zero flights canceled out of newark and 80% in jfk. the total tabulation for monday and tuesday, well over 7,000 cancelations over these -- over the country as far as airports are concerned. a lot coming out of the airports with 340 cancelations. boston logan, 900 flights canceled. in philadelphia 1,-300. this costs a lot for a lot of people. and for an airline industry believe it or not, it's lower cost than it is for the

passengers passengers. generally 6,000 costs, an average price to cancel a domestic flight in the united states for the airline industry. of course when you consider the passengers the lodging, the meals, the lost wages at work $58,000 for passage or an average airplane when you combine the numbers. the numbers quite a bit higher for the people than for the airline industry. take a look. about 20 million still underneath a blizzard warning across the eastern sea bor and portions from new york to portland maine. keep in mind when the storm dies down sometime tomorrow afternoon, tuesday afternoon i should say into tuesday night, the winds will still be gusty at times. blizzard-like conditions remaining in place. that's why blizzard warning will not expire until midnight on wednesday. so that's important to note across the region even with the snow dying down boy tomorrow by tuesday afternoon. long day, right? look at this. new york city had some light to moderate snow showers right now. the heaviest bands now beginning to push back toward eastern portions of long island. even a little bit of depleting

snow south of ball win, across the area of long island. heavy snow in place across boston. this is an area where two feet going to be a possibility by the time this is done with. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about

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robert kraft, addressed the controversy over whether or not his team used deflated footballs in a key playoff game. of course that would give them the unfair advantage. violates league rules. kraft said he's expecting an apology for the nfl if it's found his team did nothing wrong. >> if the wells investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, i would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team. and in particular coach belichick and tom brady for what they have had to endure this past week. i am disappointed in the way this entire matter has been handled and reported upon. the new england patriots played the seattle seahawks on sunday in arizona for super bowl xlix. i wanted to ask if you have a favorite. >> i'm rooting for the seahawks

on this one. you don't care either way? >> i don't know. i don't upon to say and offend anyone. an asteroid with its own moon flew past earth monday. nasa has released video. take a look. >> this is cool stuff. origin of our existence. the scientists used the deep space network antenna in california to capture essentially 20 individual images of it. the planetoid measures 1,100 feet or 23 meters across. that's all for now. more news after the break. >> i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. have a great day.

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>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news this morning. the northeast crippled by historic monster blizzard. 58 million people buried by feet of snow and hit with hurricane-force winds. flights canceled. schools closed. driving banned. people told stay at home or else. we are breaking down the latest. live team coverage starts right now. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm just outside the time warner center in new york city. it is tuesday, january 27th. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. it is snowing and