him in the stomach. he is being held on $1 million bond. awful story. make sure to follow me on twitter. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i turn you over to one mr. wolf blitzer. he is right next door in a place we like to call "the situation room." wolf? happening now, record snow another monster storm has a third of the country in its icy grip. chicago and boston are buried once again. more than 4400 flights have been canceled. deadly cold as the snow piles up temperatures are falling. wind chill readings will drop below zero overnight. how dangerous is this storm? and russian invasion. the u.s. considers sending lethal aid to help ukraine fend off advances by pro-russian rebels armed with russian weapons. is it now getting personal between president obama and russia's president putin? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

breaking now, tens of millions of people are still being hammered by this second winter storm to strike within days. it's dumping up to 14 inches of snow in massachusetts, just a week after that state was smothered by accumulations of more than two feet. it's the same storm that just left a foot and a half in chicago and has buried parts of ohio. so far, more than 4400 flights have been canceled today and as temperatures plunge bringing wind chill readings of below zero ice will become a huge problem in much of the northeast. i will talk to boston's mayor, marty walsh, and our correspondents and analysts are all standing by with full coverage. let's begin with brian todd. he is joining us from andover, massachusetts with the very latest. brian? >> reporter: wolf conditions here have just gone from very bad this morning to much worse this afternoon because this snowfall has been pretty relentless. officials here are telling us they are really worried about

the period that we are going into right now. this rush hour period tonight, when there is more of a volume of cars on the road when temperatures are dropping the pavement temperatures are also dropping. i'm going to switch out from my camera to our dash camera as we get on to interstate 93. this is one of the biggest interstates in all of massachusetts and check it out, as we come off the exit on to the interstate and just check out these conditions. it is complete whiteout here. it's been this way for most of the day. you cannot see the lane markers. there is no place to put the snow for the snow plows. there is no place to pull over. the officials here are really worried about cars getting stranded and pulling over just clogging exits and all of that. the conditions here are just getting much much more dangerous. this is part of a massive system that swept from the midwest all the way into this region. a monster storm slamming the northeast tonight. winter storm warnings in

pennsylvania new york, new jersey and across new england. up to a foot or more of snow forecast in boston where they declared a snow emergency once again. schools were closed and officials urged residents to use public transportation if they had to go out. >> we want to make sure that the entire city's up and running tomorrow so we are out there with plows today. we are asking people if you can, stay off the roads. >> reporter: south of boston a woman died after being struck by a snow plow. the norfolk county district attorney's office tells cnn the victim was hit in this parking lot monday morning by a snow plow operator. an investigation is under way. there was a travel ban during last week's storm but not this time, and visibility is an issue. >> maybe a mile or so of visibility but definitely coming down, definitely keep the windshield wipers going. >> reporter: what's scaring you now? >> can't really see the road right now. everything is all like blurry. >> reporter: some drivers who ventured out had problems. >> to avoid the collision, i

went in the snow bank. >> reporter: the massive winter storm blanketed the midwest before hitting the northeast. wet heavy snow fell in nebraska. two people were killed in weather-related car accidents there on sunday. in chicago, more than 50,000 customers lost power during the storm. utility crews were trying to restore power monday to about 5,000 customers still without power. the city got 18 inches of snow on sunday. mayor rahm emanuel says that's more than their share. >> we are getting in this 24 hour cycle what we got for all the month of january. >> reporter: emergency crews responded to this multi-vehicle crash on interstate 294, about 20 miles from chicago, monday morning. the storm is also impacting air travel. the travel headaches started over the weekend and continued after thousands of flights war canceled on monday most out of chicago o'hare newark liberty and boston logan international airport. as we move off the interstate

we will pull over into a gas station here in andover, massachusetts to show you just kind of what it's like to get out of a vehicle and try to navigate your way around this way. one of the things that is really worrying state officials now, and we are told by our own cnn weather people this as well as we get into the evening hours here we are pulling off here getting out of the vehicle, i will talk to the dash camera as we do that as we get into the evening hours here temperatures are really dropping. looking into the dash camera here as i talk to that camera we have a third camera being brought out now, i'm going to walk over here and our photojournalist will pick me up. the temperatures here dropping very very fast. some of these cars pulling in trying to get off this road. these road conditions are starting to freeze and they are going to freeze overnight. they are going to get below zero temperatures here overnight. these roads are starting to freeze. they are calling it flash freezing, wolf. that's going to make the conditions even more treacherous here in massachusetts. >> brian, we will check back with you. be careful over there in the

meantime. those roads clearly very very icy. boston is expecting up to a foot of snow before the storm is over. not only is the snowfall breaking records, anyone venture venturing outdoors will face below zero wind chills once the storm ends. jennifer gray is joining us from the streets of boston. what's it like there? >> reporter: yeah it is very cold. temperatures dropped about 20 degrees in two hours. right now, hovering right around nine or ten degrees. when you factor in the wind chill, well below zero. we feel like six below right now, so very cold and it's still snowing. we actually have one more band to push through before this starts to improve and it is going to bring quite a bit more snowfall. so far, boston has received 9.9 inches. the record for this day, february 2nd is 11.1. we will likely break the daily snowfall record. we already have broken a record it is the snowiest seven days ever here in boston and since january 1st we have received

more snowfall than they average per year. so unbelievable. the snowfall we had last week combined with the snowfall today, look behind me you can see the snow mounds everywhere. the plows are having trouble keeping up and then you see the mounds of snow all over the city. they have canceled school again tomorrow. the commute is going to be dangerous going home because of the flash freeze that brian was talking about. the roads here are just very slushy. we had that wintry mix for a couple of hours and so when that freezes overnight, it is going to make driving and travel even walking on the street very very dangerous. of course we had that super bowl parade tomorrow. it is going to go on at 11:00 tomorrow no matter what. so they are trying hard to plow the streets and sidewalks so people have a place to stand, but wolf they are saying dress warm because temperatures are going to be in the single digits with the wind chill feeling below zero. >> sounds awful indeed. jennifer, thanks very much. boston certainly has an unusual problem as jennifer just

mentioned. the i is itcity's latest snow emergency comes as people have a huge reason to go out and celebrate. joining us on the phone is boston's mayor marty walsh. we are talking about the new england patriots their super bowl win. correct me if i'm wrong, mayor, you closed schools but you are going to go ahead with this parade celebrating the pats' win, is that right? >> we are looking at the parade now just because of the snow. we are getting about six more inches than we thought we have. at the end of the day we are probably looking at 18 inches of snow in the city of boston today, and you know it's obviously ten inches fewer than the blizzard but we are getting pounded here in boston again today. >> isn't it dangerous to tell people to come out for a parade to drive in from all over new england, when the conditions are so awful? >> yeah. we are having a conversation about that, as a matter of fact. i came out of a meeting just to make a call in to you, wolf. we will make a determination on that in the next half hour. >> so basically, what i hear there's a lot of people saying you know err on the side of caution. you can always celebrate the pats' win a day or two later.

you don't want people on those roads driving in to boston. it could be very dangerous. >> that's why we canceled school tomorrow. it's really about safety. you know our plow drivers are out there on the streets and this snow has been going all day long here in the city. we have several pass-throughs through most of the roads in boston and every time we get ahead of the storm, it accumulates again. they are still talking another six inches of snow possibly before the night's over. so it's something we have to take safety first. >> yeah, of course. it's not just boston. you've got a lot of pats' fans all over new england and you don't want to tell them come in and risk -- those roads, we are showing pictures of what it's like in andover, massachusetts right now. i don't know if you heard brian todd's report but the driving seems pretty icy and treacherous. >> yeah driving is bad. it got really cold here in the last couple hours and the temperature's going to dip even more. tomorrow temperatures are going to be 14 degrees in the city. so taking all this into account.

>> did the team come home? i don't even know. did the patriots come home from arizona? boston has had a lot of cancellations. >> they're still due to come in at some point today. they haven't landed yet. i watched them take off from arizona, but i have not heard if they are in yet. >> you think -- i assume they are going to land in logan, right? >> logan's staying ahead of the snow. a lot of flights have been canceled coming into it but again, it comes down to the safety of the runways, the passengers the planes all the different pieces that come into play here. >> yeah. obviously you don't have to just worry about your beautiful city of boston. you've got a lot of areas around boston you have to worry about. you have a major decision go ahead with the parade or not go ahead with the parade. you want to make sure everybody is safe. how are the roads in boston right now? >> they are in tough shape. just for the sheer fact that it's difficult to plow and put salt down when you have so much snow still snowing. it's going to snow one forecast

has until 8:00 tonight, another has until 10:00. you've got to assume splitting the middle until 9:00. you really can't be putting salt down until you can get down to the pavement. in some areas we have pavement. in other areas we have snow cover over it. so it's really these two storms we have had back-to-back are a mess because they have been all day in the middle of the week. our kids have lost a lot of school people have lost a lot of work. it's been -- we have had a mild winter up until the last two weeks. >> mayor, good luck to everyone in boston. i know you will want to celebrate the pats' win but you probably will do it a day or two later just to be on the safe side. i will leave you with this thought. boston usually gets 43 inches of snow each season. since january 24th just a few days ago, you guys in boston have received more than 41 inches of snow. that broke a record for the snowiest seven day period ever. you know that right? >> yeah. that's a record we don't need to break. >> yeah. that's true.

all right. good luck. congratulations on the pats' win, by the way. >> thank you, sir. >> let's get the latest forecast on this storm from our meteorologist, who is joining us right now. tom, give us the update. >> you know wolf he just mentioned, records we don't like to break. it always amazes me when you think about records in this part of the country that go back well into the 1800s and we are still breaking records. this is more than a nuisance storm. it is more than the thousands of schools that are being closed. think of the tens of thousands of city workers across all of these cities that have been plowing 24/7. here's some of the devastating totals that are not going to go away because the cold air is moving in. chicago needed 14 inches to get into the top ten greatest snowfalls and the records go back to the 1886. they got 19.3 the fifth greatest snowfall on record. we haven't talked much about detroit. 16.7. places this as the third highest snowfall total in the history. the greatest snowfall since 1974

and their records go back to 1886. boston right now, the last report this is a few hours ago, 9.9. we believe there's about a foot on the ground and you still have one to three more coming. cleveland, 7.2. toledo over ten inches. des moines over 11. this has been affecting twice as many americans than last week's storm that dropped one to three feet mainly confined area of the northeast. this is the flash freeze brian todd was talking about. the cold air is plummeting southward so fast that all the plowing, if you can see pavement the salt the chemicals are going to do very little come morning. to make things worse, to tell you the truth, we have a secondary blast of arctic air that will be here for the end of the week that is colder than the air that's moving in now. so this is going to be here for awhile. good news is we are finally seeing the tail end. it is moving through hartford now. it has left new york city. still parts of long island.

there's a blue batch here, i will show you, get in a little bit closer. this is a heavy band that will still drop a good one to three as it moves out of worcester and that moves toward boston area. we think there's a foot on the ground in boston could get another one to three but finally the system moves out. wind chills are dropping pretty quickly, too. to add insult to injury we will see really now from portland six to eight and still getting from bangor northward into the canadian maritimes about a foot but it's not over. here are the temperatures. right now, morning lows expected buffalo, zero new york 11. wednesday there's a little bit of a rebound. even though we won't get up above freezing from philadelphia to boston to portland that secondary blast will come in late thursday and into friday. now, there have been many cities that were quite lucky and that's good. washington, d.c. baltimore, philadelphia back to cincinnati and southward, st. louis, but the cold air is moving in and we have wind chill advisories and

even warnings now for this part of the country. over 100 million americans affected by this latest winter storm. >> wow. it's a huge number obviously. tom sater, thanks very much. we just heard the mayor of boston marty walsh, say within a half hour they will make an official announcement whether or not that new england patriots victory parade tomorrow scheduled for boston tomorrow will go forward or will be postponed for a few days maybe the day after, the day after that because of the treacherous conditions right now. certainly sounds like they'll have to postpone that parade. much more to come on this dangerous storm that's stranding travelers, forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights. and later, president obama's surprisingly personal response to the new aggression by russia's president vladimir putin. when it comes to good nutrition...i'm

no expert. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda.

if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid

arthritis like me and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira giving me new perspective. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers including lymphoma have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. talk to your doctor and visit humira.com this is humira at work e financial noise

financial noise financial noise financial noise there's something happening right here in this country. it's the sound of america... working with american materials... in american factories. at weathertech all we do is create the highest quality automotive accessories including laser measured custom fit floor liners. order yours today at weathertech.com or call 1-800-car-mats weathertech floor liners. proudly made in america.

just got word official word from the mayor of boston they decided to move that celebratory parade for the new england patriots scheduled for tomorrow not going to happen tomorrow. they decided to move it until wednesday. they want to err on the side of caution, given the huge huge problems affecting boston. all of new england, right now. this huge new snowstorm in not only new england but one third of the country, millions of people from the midwest to the northeast, they are coping with very heavy snow. for massachusetts it's the second major storm in a week. it will be followed by bone-chilling cold with below zero wind chills. on the phones peter judge of the

massachusetts emergency management agency. i suspect you grow with mayor walsh of boston it's a good idea to err on the side of caution, postpone that parade for the new england patriots, winner of the super bowl by 24 hours. >> absolutely. simply because first of all, how much snow is going to continue to come down and how much is going to be able to be moved but the fact of the matter is the wind chill factors tomorrow morning when the parade is scheduled is supposed to be 13 14 below zero. i think it's a very wise move. >> you think it will be any better wednesday? >> can't be any worse. yeah. we expect it to be better. certainly the cleanup of the streets and the sidewalks in boston where the parade route is will probably be much better and the temperatures are supposed to be a little bit more sane. >> but it's not just boston. you've got a lot of new england fans who want to drive into boston to celebrate the new england patriots and the driving conditions may be relatively okay in boston but what about in the areas around boston? >> well, you're right, that's a

challenge. there are areas in central massachusetts that are going to get probably a total of 20 inches of snow before this thing stops. major highways i think by wednesday will be pretty good so people coming from distances i don't think will be a problem. the problem's going to be when they get off the highways and have to deal with surface roads and local roads. but you know we are up to the task. it's winter in new england. we will get it done. >> because this is an unusual winter in new england, even by new england standards, this is pretty awful, right? >> you're right. i think i saw national weather announce the city of boston set a record snow for a week or ten-day period. we got a lot of snow out there and extremely cold temperatures but like i said we have dealt with similar things in the past maybe not as bad as this but people will figure it out. >> what's the biggest problem you're facing? you are in charge of emergency management. >> well i think right now,

short term is really getting people home safely this evening. the plows are out there but the temperatures have dropped about 20 degrees in a few hour period and we've got this flash freeze going on in the southern part of the state as well so the roads, you're not only dealing with snow but also ice. so the commute is very problematic. we are encouraging a lot of people if you don't have to go right home if you can hang in there for a few hours, hopefully things will improve. >> good advice for a lot of folks in your state of massachusetts. peter judge, thanks very much. >> you're very welcome. be safe. >> as the huge storms spread from the midwest to the northeast, so did the air travel nightmares all across the country. thousands of flights have been canceled. our national correspondent jason carroll is joining us right now from laguardia airport in new york. what are you hearing, what are you seeing? >> reporter: more than 4,400 flights nationwide canceled so

far and that number just seems to keep growing. we have been checking out this board behind me and you just keep seeing that red canceled every time you look at the arrivals and departures. every hour we have been updating our viewers with the numbers from the five cities across the country with the most cancellations, chicago still topping the list at 529, followed by laguardia at 432, followed by newark at 310, boston at 295, where they are having all those problems there, jfk with 145 cancellations there. we have been listening to -- and watching some of the twitter traffic where we heard about one plane that apparently had some problems trying to land but we checked in with port authority. they say all runways are open and operational, safe for flights to take off and to land. the best advice for travelers obviously with all the travel apps out there and weather websites out there as well is to check with your carrier before you head out but we were

talking to a couple that's trying to get back to charlotte, north carolina. they did all the right things. they checked with all the apps they did everything they were supposed to they were in a cab on their way over here only to find out that their usair flight had been canceled. even when you do all the right things sometimes the weather just does not cooperate. >> jason carroll, thank you. cnn.com wants your help in telling the story of the storm. if you have taken your own images or videos of the latest storm, post them to twitter, facebook or instagram using the hash tag cnn snow. coming up president obama's strong personal response to the latest aggression by russia's vladimir putin. and amazing new pictures of the destruction left by the fighting between russian-backed forces and ukrainian troops in a country the u.s. says it supports. the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables

is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do. oh yea, that's coming down let's get some rocks, man. health can change in a minute. so cvs health is changing healthcare. making it more accessible and affordable with walk-in medical care, no appointments needed and most insurance accepted. minuteclinic. another innovation from cvs health. because health is everything. why do we do it? why do we spend every waking moment, thinking about people? why are we so committed to keeping you connected? why combine performance with a conscience? why innovate for

a future without accidents? why do any of it? why do all of it? because if it matters to you it's everything to us. the xc60 crossover. from volvo. lease the well-equipped volvo xc60 today. visit your local volvo showroom for details. the future of the market is never clear. but at t. rowe price we can help guide your retirement savings. our experience is one reason 100% of our retirement funds beat their 10-year lipper averages. so wherever your long-term goals take you we can help you feel confident. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil.

because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of american energy security. the new energy superpower? it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more.

now with the xfinity tv go app, you can watch live tv anytime. it's never been easier with so many networks all in one place. get live tv whenever you want. the xfinity tv go app. now with live tv on the go. enjoy over wifi or on verizon wireless 4g lte. plus enjoy special savings when you purchase any new verizon wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more.

look at that. shocking what's going on in ukraine. president obama we are being told may be ready to up the ante against russian president vladimir putin. the obama administration now considering sending weapons, what's called lethal aid, to help government forces in ukraine fend back rebel attacks in eastern ukraine. that's prompted by russian advances and a flow of weapons, russian weapons, into ukraine. let's go live to our white house correspondent, michelle kaczynski. what's going on? what are you learning? >> reporter: you look at the violence the heavy weaponry made in russia flowing across the border with personnel, and only increasing in the last few

months despite western sanctions and the threat of more so now comes this consider jags at the highest levels to look at the possibility of aiding ukrainian forces. yes, we are talking lethal aid. shelling. fighting. civilian deaths escalating as russia expands its influence inside ukraine. now from some top u.s. officials, we hear shifting tone internal discussions, support in military leadership for the u.s. and its allies to do more. arm ukrainian forces with lethal aid. >> we haven't taken options off the table. >> reporter: the president said this in india last week. >> i will look at all additional options that are available to us short of military confrontation.

>> reporter: the tricky question though would arming ukraine end up a deterrent or stoke the fire into a proxy war with russia as the white house has worried. a group of foreign policy experts, including former administration officials just put out a report calling the situation critical urging the u.s. and nato to directly arm ukrainian forces including anti-armor missiles. >> the proposal is not to give ukraine enough to beat the russian army. we can't do that. but we want the ukrainians to be able to raise the cost of aggression to the russian military so the russians consider the cost too high and that takes away the option from russia of further aggression further escalation. >> reporter: in the words of ukrainian president poroshenko before the u.s. congress wanting lethal aid for months -- >> please understand me correctly. one cannot win the war with

blankets. >> reporter: the focus is still on trying to find a diplomatic solution applying economic pressure. the analysts who put together this report said they looked at the risks, of course of arming ukraine but they concluded that the risks of not acting in this way were even worse in terms of how russia might continue. wolf? >> obviously the situation there escalating. thanks very much. now to a cnn exclusive. our senior international correspondent nick paton-walsh has been on the front lines in ukraine. he is getting a first-hand look at the violence. it's ugly out there right now, we must warn you, as the report contains graphic images. nick is joining us live from ukraine with the very latest. nick this is awful. it seems to be getting worse by the day. >> reporter: what's remarkable is that months ago you would never conceive the idea of heavy artillery being used perhaps indiscriminately in civilian areas by both sides, i have to say. but we today got rare access in

fact the first western media to see the heart really of much of the worst fighting in the past few months and that is at what used to be the quite prestigious international airport in donetsk, now the heart of the battlefield, destroyed beyond recognition. nowhere has the fighting been fiercer in the worst war to hit europe since the balkans than this once proud international airport. ukraine's army is still shelling here. despite being pushed out of this former stronghold two weeks ago by these russian-backed separatists, themselves heavily armed, this is their form of ar airport shuttle. we are moving now in an armored

car towards the new terminal of the airport. territory which the separatists have taken but it's still regularly under fire from the ukrainian military. we pull into the airport long term underground parking. occasionally shells are still landing here. the fighting killed hundreds as ukrainians used service tunnels to hold part of the complex. the men claim these bodies were left in the ukrainian retreat. the last call for passengers on this walkway passed months ago. these pictures from three years ago showing how it used to sparkle. hard to imagine how just six months ago we were here flying out of donetsk. this was then a state of the art international terminal. just look at the destruction and how this symbolizes how far eastern ukraine has fallen.

mortars often fall here so we move fast. they used to call this the new terminal opened two years ago for football fans coming to see the european championship. but that newfound european optimism has evaporated. the war here is entering a new phase. with the heaviest of weapons and the random shelling of civilians, in which victory has become more important than its spoils. these men blame barack obama for this devastation. russia blames nato for fomenting this war. nato says nonsense and that many of these fighters are actually russian regular army. blame, hatred and charred remains everywhere. but ukraine's bright hopes of modern prosperity the gate is closed. ukraine's army simply can't hold ground. the separatists look

increasingly confident day by day. called up today, 100,000 reinforcements they say, and really sanctions have not dampened the appetite in moscow for this war it seems. the question now is what can washington do to actually influence a situation it clearly wanted very little with in the start. >> this situation is clearly, clearly escalating. excellent report nick paton-walsh on the ground for us as he always is. thank you. let's get more now. joining us the ranking member of the house foreign affairs committee, democratic congressman eliot engel of new york. congressman, thanks for coming in. you want the obama administration to start arming the ukrainian military? >> absolutely. i think it should have been done awhile ago. you know the very last bill that congress passed last year when we went out of session was authorizing the president to supply lethal weapons to the ukrainians. >> why didn't they do it? what do they say to you? why have they waited so long?

>> nobody wants to get involved if it can be avoided into something that might be able to suck us in. i think it's pretty clear to anybody now that putin is going for the kill. these are not separatists. these are russian troops aided and abetted by russian -- >> how do you know that? >> we do know that. it's not even -- only putin says no but everybody else believes otherwise. >> you think that regular russian army personnel have now moved into ukraine and are leading this fight. these aren't simply ukrainian rebels who support unification with russia? >> no. no. of course all the material they are getting is from russia. this is as if russia is invading ukraine. i think that the west cannot sit idly by and just put its head in the sand. i think the time has come to really move. if this is not stopped now, we are going to see the end of a democratic ukraine and i don't think that's -- >> quickly, how many russian troops do you estimate are in ukraine right now? >> i don't know how many but for sure they're there and they

are training the rebels as well. there are more russian troops there than there are rebels. >> are they the hundreds or the thousands? >> i couldn't venture to tell you how many. i wouldn't be surprised if it's in the thousands. >> stand by congressman. we have a lot more to discuss. we have to take a quick break. much more on this devastation that's going on in ukraine right now. the secretary of state john kerry is getting ready to head over there this week. the president got very personal in his interview with fareed zakaria about putin.

toenail fungus? don't hide it... tackle it with new fda-approved jublia! jublia is a prescription medicine proven to treat toenail fungus. use jublia as instructed by your doctor. once applied jublia gets to the site of infection by going under, around and through the nail. most common side effects include ingrown toenail, application-site redness itching, swelling, burning or stinging, blisters, and pain. tackle it! ask your doctor now if new jublia is right for you.

[container door opening] ♪ what makes it an suv is what you can get into it. ♪ [container door closing] what makes it an nx is what you can get out of it. ♪ introducing the first-ever lexus nx turbo and hybrid. once you go beyond utility there's no going back.

we're back with a ranking member of the house foreign affairs committee, the democratic congressman eliot engel of new york. just want to wrap up this issue of the u.s. providing weapons to the ukrainian military. have you been briefed, has the obama administration made a decision to go forward and supply these weapons as you want? >> we haven't been briefed but we will be briefed in the next few days. so i couldn't tell you if they have made a decision but my admonition to them is they should make the decision to help the ukrainians. >> the ukrainians pay for it the u.s. taxpayer pays for it? who pays for the weapons that presumeably would go to ukraine? >> it's not just weapons, it's loan guarantees which we have put forward and we would pay for the weapons. >> the u.s.? . >> the u.s. >> any idea how much money we're talking about? >> i have no idea specifically how much money but i will tell you it's a small price to pay

because the alternative is to have more crimeas, to have russia essentially control more of ukraine. i think what's happening now, we were talking before about what sounds like the cold war all over again. i think if we don't stand up to putin now, he's not going to stop at ukraine. there are other countries there that are very nervous. the former eastern bloc countries, muldova, the baltic states. we need to show our nato allies in europe we are not going to -- >> why doesn't nato do this? nato got involved in afghanistan. nato gets involved outside of the nato countries itself it seems those nato countries in europe they have a lot at stake right now as well. you mentioned poland or latvia lithuania, these are nato allies. why aren't they getting more involved? >> nato should do it. >> what should nato do? >> the eu should do it but the u.s. really has to lead. >> the united states leads but what do you want britain, france germany, these are powerful countries, italy, spain. what do you want these nato

allies to do? >> i want them to provide ukraine the ability to defend itself. >> with weapons. >> with weapons. >> what about military personnel? >> no one is talking right now about military personnel. we are hoping that if russia sees that the west has a resolve to not let them continue their aggression russia will back down. we have got to make it painful for russia. >> but the russians don't seem -- it's making an impact on the russian economy but putin is not backing down. his popularity still goes up. >> well he's propping up russia, but the russian economy is very very poor. that's why we need to give them lethal weapons because we need to make putin understand that -- >> you want to tighten the sanctions? >> i think we should tighten the sanctions. look i think putin has killed russian democracy and if he's going to be around for another 20 or 25 years, the way the west deals with him now sets the course for the next 25 years. if we think, if we let him think his aggression will just continue and that we will be too scared to fight it he will do more and he's not going to stop. i think he's got to know there's

a price to pay. >> it sounds to me like we are back -- i lived through the cold war, so did you. this sounds like the bad old days of the cold war. >> well mr. putin was an old kgb person. i think he said the greatest tragedy of the 20th century was the collapse of the soviet union. i can think of a lot more tragedies. i think unfortunately putin has to understand that the west is united and resolved. we haven't been showing that up until now. i think it's time for a change. >> he's got crimea in ukraine. he wants to take this whole land mass. they have a land mass from russia through ukraine to crimea. is that his objective? >> that's his objective. by the way, i don't think we should acquiesce to crimea. it's a fait accompli for now. way before before world war ii there was another dictator who said if you give me czechoslovakia there are people who thought just give it to him

and he will be happy. we saw that that didn't work then. this won't work now. if we think we can appease putin by letting him be aggressive in ukraine, we are kidding ourselves. it's not going to stop at crimea or odessa. it will just continue. >> you are not saying he's hitler. >> no no i don't think you can compare anybody to hitler. i think putin's aggression is very similar to the type of aggression we saw just before world war ii. >> eliot engel of the house foreign affairs committee, thanks for joining us. coming up at the top of the hour hostages' lives on the line. we have new reporting on the fight to save prisoners held by isis including an american woman. up next a live update on this monster storm battering the northeast, setting records for snowfall. i love... listening to intriguing sounds when i drift off into my dreams.

others might? ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis like me and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage.

this is humira giving me new perspective. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers including lymphoma have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. talk to your doctor and visit humira.com this is humira at work

i have great credit. how do you know? duh. try credit karma. it's free and you can see what your score is right now . i just got my free credit score! credit karma. really free.

now with the xfinity tv go app, you can watch live tv anytime. it's never been easier with so many networks all in one place. get live tv whenever you want. the xfinity tv go app. now with live tv on the go. enjoy over wifi or on verizon wireless 4g lte. plus enjoy special savings when you purchase any new verizon wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more.

. we have breaking news. boston officials have decided to postpone tomorrow's victory celebration for the new england patriots. it is now set for wednesday. record snow in boston will be followed by below zero windchills. let's check in with brian todd in massachusetts. he has more. brian it looks like the snow is coming down. >> reporter: it's coming down wolf. it's getting worse. and to boot since the last time we talked to you, the wind has kicked up. in addition to the volume of snow which is falling at a relentless rate you have the wind whiteout conditions. here is another illustrator of the problem. where to put all the snow. i'm climbing up a mound ten feet or so high. there are places like this all

over the greater boston area. this is a huge problem. they are running out of places to put the snow. they are also -- there are motorists who have to place to go if they need to pull over on the side of the road, if they think they will be stranded there's no place to park your car. there are few places to walk if you have to leave your car. officials say they don't want people to leave their cars on the side of the road anywhere. it's too dangerous. 3,000-plus snowplows, spreaders and other vehicles are out trying to clear the roads. it's coming down at too fast a rate. they cannot keep up with t. on the road you can't seen lane markers. it's very bad tonight. it doesn't seem to be letting up. we were told it might taper off by now. it p hasn't done that. it's getting more dangerous. now, wolf the roads are going to start to freeze. we can feel it right now. one of our cnn weather colleagues told me if you are out here more than 30 minutes, you will get frostbite. we can feel it right now.

>> the driving conditions were awful all day. but you are saying now, brian, it's getting worse? >> reporter: it really is wolf. the problem is that now the temperatures on pavement are going to be below freezing. and the windchill is going to be in the negative teens tonight. all of that means treacherous driving conditions. the roads are freezing in addition to not being cleared off because, again, the plows as hard as they are working -- they have been out all day. they can't keep up with the rate of snow at this point. >> back to you shortly, brian. be careful over there. brian todd in massachusetts. the president of the united states says the u.s. is doing all it can to free an american woman being held hostage by isis as the fate of an allied pilot captured by the terror group is still unclear. i will speak live with the president's deputy national security adviser. i will ask him about isis what the u.s. plans to do about russian aggression in ukraine

and more. the future of the market is never clear. but at t. rowe price we can help guide your retirement savings. our experience is one reason 100% of our retirement funds beat their 10-year lipper averages. so wherever your long-term goals take you we can help you feel confident. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. there's nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex.

do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. why pause the moment? ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. for a free 30-tablet trial go to cialis.com

you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do, drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had a liberty mutual new car replacement, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. new car replacement is just one of the features that come standard with a base liberty mutual policy. and for drivers with accident forgivness,rates won't go up due to your first accident. learn more by calling switch to liberty mutual and you can save up to $423. for a free

quote today,call liberty mutual insurance at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. happening now, revenge against isis. the lives of more hostages are on the line right now, including an american woman. the jihadi john mystery. why is he still alive and beheading hostages? we will talk about the hunt for the terrorist and whether it should be more of a priority. fighting off russia. the obama administration considers ratcheting up its involvement. deadly double whammy.

a brutal snowstorm hammering a third of the united states. the northeast is in the cross hairs and temperatures are sinking fast. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you are in "the situation room." breaking now in the war against isis president obama says the united states is using all its assets to try to rescue an american woman held hostage. there are fears for her life as isis has behead aid japanese hostage while keeping world guessing about the fate of a jordanian fighter pilot. a new move by the obama administration to respond to russian aggression. the united states is now considering whether to send weapons to ukrainian forces fighting pro-russian rebels. that could risk igniting a proxy war between president obama and russian president vladimir putin. a top presidential adviser is

standing by at the white house. we will speak with him along with our correspondents and analysts covering all the news breaking right now. first let's go to barbara starr. she has the very latest on this war against isis. barbara? >> reporter: wolf tonight japan is a country in mourning. jordan is holding its breath. while the world waits and watches to see what isis does next. outsite outside the japanese embassy, a vigil in the memory of journalist kenji goto another hostage killed by isis. a rally against terror. the jordanian government still pressing to get its pilot freed from isis. >> proof of life that we have asked for did not come yet. >> reporter: ominous silence from isis which never publically offered to release the pilot in return for sajida al rishawi, a

would-be suicide bombing held in jordan since being convicted of hotel bombings in 2005. >> isis seems to be in touch with somebody in the jordanian government. we haven't had that line of communication before. >> reporter: the u.s. following all of this closely as an american aide worker remains an isis hostage. it has been something the white house has been reluctant to talk about. but president obama telling nbc news -- >> our obligation is to make sure that we can do anything we can to try to make sure that any american citizen is rescued from this situation. >> reporter: isis apparently undeterred releasing new propaganda pictures of what it says is an assault on iraqi army posts west of baghdad. for isis gains and losses. >> they are losing ground in iraq. they are maintaining ground in syria. they are getting recruits coming in from overseas at quite a clip. >> reporter: chuck hagel telling cnn, isis is still expert at

exploiting social media. >> this is as sophisticated a terrorist group as we have ever seen. the sophistication of the social media -- we have never seen a terrorist group like isil just from that dimension. >> reporter: for the family of the jordanian pilot, a terrible wait for news. >> we can't sleep. we can't eat. we can't do anything. our work is stopped. our life is stopped. >> reporter: now, u.s. official say the strategy remains unchanged. priority not syria but iraq. the priority is to see what those air strikes can do in iraq to push isis back so iraqi forces can step in and try and achieve some success in taking back territory. wolf there's a lot of skepticism that iraqi forces on the ground will be able to do that. >> understandably so. barbara starr, thanks very much. more on this war against isis the fate of the american woman being held by isis that's coming up.

i want to turn to another breaking story, the war in ukraine and the possibilities of intervention by the united states. would it help diffuse rushsian aggression or would it escalate the crisis. jim sciutto is here in "the situation room." what is the owebama administration considering? >> reporter: sending defensive weapons in addition to the military supplies, night vision goggles but a step further, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. this would be a significant step further. they could change the calculus on the ground which is something to this point the administration has been reluctant to do because they are concerned, you inject weapons, particularly from the u.s. that that would further spur putin into action. this is something they had difficulty doing what he is going to next and what's going to make him escalate further. the trouble is ukraine has been losing on the ground. putin to this point has proved

to be putin the undeterrable. economic sanctions are punishing his economy. that has not kept him from taking more aggressive moves on the ground. >> popularity is still very high despite the pain of those economic sanks. i take it because the russian aggression is intensifying the administration is will doing what so many have have begging, provides to the military? >> the president hasn't made the decision. there are those in the state department the defense department and democrats on the hill senator chris murphy he is on the senate for relations committee, he told us on cnn to say he believes the russians have made clear that they have no interest in bargaining and are intent on continuing their invasion of ukraine. the invasion which the administration had been reluctant to do. now is the time for the u.s. to provide weapons. you have voices from inside the

democratic party on the hill pushing -- >> we heard from elliott engle on the house foreign affairs committee, he says he has been asking the administration to provide weapons to ukraine for a long time. they have been reluctant to do so. >> they have. this is the difficulty. the administration has said they want to raise the costs on russia. that has worked. it raced the costs. but it hasn't changed anything on the ground. the administration is concerned injecting arms will spur further russian action. >> jim sciutto reporting for us. thanks very much. joining us from the white house is ben rhodes the deputy national security adviser to the president of the united states. thanks very much for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> has the president decided to provide weapons to the ukrainian military? >> no wolf. this is an issue that we are constantly looking at. we do provide military equipment to the ukrainians. we do have a training relationship with the ukrainian military. but we look across the range of

tools we have available. we still think that the best way to influence russia's calculus is through the sankctions. we are not going to bring the ooh scannian military into parody with russia's not in the near future. we will look at options. we have to keep the perspective that the best tool that we have to apply pressure on russia is that economic pressure through the sanctions. >> what would be so bad about doing what the president of ukraine and so many others have been appealing for, helping the ukrainian military deal with the invading tafrngse inging tanks, aircraft? why not provide weapons? >> well wolf again, we are helping the ukrainian military. we have provided important equipment that they rely on. we have had a conversation with the president looking forward about how we can strengthen their security forces. but we don't think the answer to the crisis in ukraine is simply to inject more weapons and get into that type of tit for tat

for russia. we think the answer is to apply pressure try to get them to the table with the separatists so we can see a peaceful deescalation. we are always going to apply more pressure on russia through the economic pressure than through just the infusion of republicans. >> you can confirm that the president is considering a change in policy beginning to think about providing weapons more aggressive weapons, shall we say, anti-tank missiles or surface to air missiles to the ukrainian military? >> yes, wolf the president's direction to his team is constantly to look at all these options. what can we be doing in the defense space in our relationship with the ukrainian military? what can we be doing in the sanctions space with our european partners? there will be a meeting at the white house with merkel. he will talk to her about the

issues. he is always looking across the range of options about what can we do to pressure russia to move in the direction of peaceful deescalation. we have seen an impact from the sanctions. but we need to see over time those biting into the russian economy and affecting the russian calculus going forward. >> i think it's fair that there has been an impact on the russian economy by the u.s.-led sanctions and the european allies are on board. it doesn't seem to have any impact at all on what's going on on the ground in ukraine. 5,000 people have been killed. you saw what's -- the video coming out, the airport that had been rebuilt, the devastation, the destruction. it doesn't seem like the russians have been deterred from going forward at all with their military aggression. >> wolf again, absolutely what we have seen is president putin continuing to back the separatists, continuing to arm them continuing to see russian personnel across the border. so absolutely we remain concerned about that. we have seen the russians try to

keep this facade of a peace process that they have been in the with the ukrainians with europeans. what we want to see is not just a facade but russia feeling the pressure that again incentivize them to move down the path way to deescalation that is there for me. rather what we see is them continuing to push the envelope. they will feel pressure from the united states and europe and we will look at whatever we can do to support the ooh kraunian government as they deal with the very difficult situation. >> let me be precise. i don't want to put words in your mouth. you are considering a change in policy as far as weapons to the ukrainian military is concerned, no final decision has been made on that? you want to speak with merkel when she's here in washington next week? and you are also considering strengthen strengthening, adding more sanctions against russia? >> that's right on both of those things. we're always looking at what is the type of defense equipment we're providing to the ukrainians. on the sanctions, what can we do to tighten pressure?

are there areas we can amp up the pressure? we believe that's the best way to tighten the squeeze on russia going forward. >> it looks like we're back in the battle days of the cold war. are we? >> i don't think so. what we see here are a very specific situation. the world is aligned with the united states here. we have europe solidly with us in imposing sanctions. we don't see the model that rush had a is putting forward as something that is attractive beyond the borders of russia. we see again a world that recognizes that the values of the united states stands up for, democracy, the right for people and countries to determine their own destinety, people are rallying to our cause. russia is isolated. this is not like the cold war in which you had countries aligned with the soviet union. you have russia standing in an isolated position supporting the separatist. that's a losing bet for them. because all it's bringing them is significant international

isolation and economic pain. >> let's talk about the war against isis. first of all, do you know for sure that that jordanian fighter pilot is in fact alive? >> wolf i don't think we can say with certainty what his condition is. we have been very concerned about the jordanian pilot. we have been in consultation with our jordanian partners on this. but, again, the tragic case is here that people who are in isis custody are in grave danger. we will do whatever we can to find and bring to security that pilot and anybody who is held hostage by isil. but at the same time it's' very difficult circumstance there inside of syria. >> i want to confirm that those two japanese hostages including the journalist who died over the weekend, was killed over the weekend -- murdered i should say, jihadi john is he the guy who talks but does the beheading? >> kint say with certainly

there. there seems to be a small group of people inside of isil who have been conducting these abductions holding the prisoners, carrying out the executions. it's obviously -- it has drown condemnation. it is redoubling our commitment to take action against isil including inside of syria. again, we have seen even in recent days significant blow to isil as they have been pushed completely out of the city of kobani which they made a priority for so many weeks and months. that shows that when we are working with partners on the ground with our air campaign we can achieve results. >> how important would it be for the u.s. to either capture or kill that guy called jihadi john? >> i think it would be important. what we have seen about these organizations like isil is that they do have a command and control structure. they do have individuals who play roles within the organization that are difficult to replace. so in our targeting as we have

looked across irbeing are a and syria, we have looked at who are those leadership targets, what is that command and control we need to take out? we have had success in both iraq and syria in taking people off the battlefield who have again unique roles in the organization. just the other day we confirmed we were ai believe to take out who we believe to be the chemical weapons expert inside isil. so we're constantly looking at again how can we dismantle this organization including by getting at their leadership? >> one final question. we understand the british government knows the identity of jihadi john. the u.s. government given the close connection relationship with britain, knows the identity of this guy who conceals his face. why not release his name release his picture, let the entire world see him? >> again, we obviously coordinate more closely with the united kingdom than any partner in the world. we share intelligence. we make these determinations about when to put information

out based on the assessment of our counterterrorism professional professionals, what going to allow us to best identify target bring to justice an individual. that's what's going to guide us going forward. again, given it's a u.k. national we want to make sure we are aligned with our partner in that effort. this is something that we are working very closely, particularly given the fact that we have seen both americans and british citizens killed in the most barbaric and inhumane ways possible. we will stay after this i think president obama made clear as president that he does not relent until we bring individuals like this who are responsible for american deaths to justice. >> what can you tell us about the american woman who is being held by isis? >> well again, we have been very concerned for some time about all of the hostages including the individual that you are referencing. this is soming that we work every day in the national security team what are the

intelligence leads we're pulling on? how are we able to try to find and bring to safety any american who is held by isil? it's something that the president i think follows very closely every single day. he gets updates on this. and we're going to whatever we can to deal with what is again a very tragic circumstance but one i think that has made clear to the world why we need to act together to oppose this threat and to ultimately push isil out of these territories that they have claimed. >> ben rhodes is the deputy national security adviser. thanks for joining us. >> thanks wolf. just ahead, a top republican's response to the white house on isis. and a lot more. peter kipgng is standing by live. terrorists are gaining land and power. we will show you the territory in their grip, the grip of isis right now. huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah, everybody knows that. well, did you know that playing cards

with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast? ♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪ ♪ know when to fold 'em. ♪ ♪ know when to walk away. ♪ ♪ know when to run. ♪ ♪ you never count your money, ♪ ♪ when you're sitting at the ta...♪ what? you get it? i get the gist yeah. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. kid: hey dad, who was that man? dad: he's our broker. he helps looks after all our money.

kid: do you pay him? dad: of course. kid: how much? dad: i don't know exactly. kid: what if you're not happy? does he have to pay you back? dad: nope. kid: why not? dad: it doesn't work that way. kid: why not? vo: are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management at charles schwab the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do.

we are tracking new threats from isis and the response around the world. the group is believed to have control over 8 million people in iraq and syria, the size of the population of switzerland. they are gaining ground in other territories as well. let's bring in philip mudd to break down what is going on right now. we have a map. i want you to show ou viewers who is happening with isis. >> look where we started 15 years ago. we go into south asia. the group that posed a threat 3,000 people dead but small geographic space after 9/11. they move out from afghanistan into the tribal areas of pakistan threat that could daniel a lot of american cities kill a lot of people.

geographically focused so you can get intelligence resources military. let's contrast that to today. look at the depth of the threat versus what we focus on today. boko haram abducting girls in nigeria, the decay in libya, isis front here al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, and then where we started, we have seen in the past couple weeks reports of the folks from iraq isis recruiting in afghanistan. you see the breath of the problem we face. not as strategic as the original al qaeda. but trying to put your finger in 1,000 d thoushgs,000 dikes. >> isis is a huge threat. but al qaeda and the splinter

groups any of these, they are loosely align as well? >> it's not just the alignment of people who might once have talked to each other or trained with each other. what we are seeing is al qaeda transition from a small group that trained 19 hijackers, they owned the 9/11 operation to a loosely affiliated group of people who share an ideology but the power of these groups that they don't have to meet. what they have said is al qaeda gave us a vision. get the foreigners out, get the americans out, get the brits out, get the israelis out and take over local space which local governments are vulnerable because of the departure of the americans. >> you heard chuck hagel tell barbara starr they have unbelievable capability in social media, if you will. their ability to go out there and project their propaganda is really uncalled -- unheard of as far as a terrorist organization is concerned. don't go too far away. i want to bring in peter king of

new york. a key member of the house homeland security and intelligence committee. congressman, thanks for joining us. is the u.s. positioned to deal with this expanding terror network? >> wolf i done believe we're doing enough. i think the president really sent a false signal over the last several years by constantly say saying how al qaeda will be designated. he said we're back to pre-9/11. the fact is they have metastasized. we have grouped that you mentioned and philip mudd mentioned and regarding isis as far as stabbing their offensive, i think it's impossible to be able to stop them without some use of american ground troops. the president talks about tens of thousands are getting involved in the ground war. no i don't we have do that. i think we have to have ground troops as far as providing intelligence as far as spotters, as far as coordinating training maybe being imbedded with the iraqis with the kurds.

it has to be so american presence on the ground. also without an american presence on the ground, it's virtually impossible to get real intelligence. i think the president has gone -- it's hard to rally the american people and it's hard to send a signal of confidence to the rest of the world when the president is always talking about how we're going to be withdrawing, pulling back and about these victories that he sees as retaining al qaeda. it's not al qaeda, per se it's the entire movement. some closely affiliated others loosely affiliated others sharing a common ideology. this is a long hard war on many fronts in the middle east. >> i will ask you what i asked ben boedzrhodes. we know the u.s. and british intelligence they know the identity of this guy so-called jihadi john the guy who threatens the beheadings and probably does the actual beheading

beheadings. i'm confused. why hasn't his name and picture been released? what's the down side of ledtting the world know who he is? >> i would just say that my instinct is to agree with you. the more people that would know of this the better it would be. also if we are going to have any hope of using bounties in that part of the world, that the more people who would recognize him or see him the better would be. how really significant it would be i don't know. but i don't think there's any down side to it unless there's something out there that we're not aware of. on the face of it i would say it makes more sense to release the photo, the identification and name all of that rather than withholding it. >> i'm told if the jordanian fighter pilot whose plane went down over syria, was captured by isis assuming he is alive, if he is behead order killed jordan will respond very very harshly against isis. i'm not sure have i no idea

what they would do. this would be unique. jordan is basically a pretty peaceful country. >> they are very very strong ally. going back to jordan in 2005 2006, when the brow tal attack was carried out, the bombings were carried out in jordan in ahmann in the hotels and it was soon after that that they killed the leader -- then what was isis they went all out to do it. when they want to do something, they really can. again, i have a great regard for king abdullah. he is our closest arab ally. he has a very effective fighting force. and they are assisting us against isis. they have been of great help to us ever since 9/11. they have been there as much or more than any other arab country. i would say to have them fully mobilized against isis it certainly could only help us put it that way. >> we have to leave it there. congressman, thanks for joining

us. >> thank you very much. just ahead, more on the many is try of jihadi john as he is called. should the u.s. and its allies make his capture or targeted killing a top priority? cnn takes you on a dangerous road. a lot of roads, as a second brutal storm hits the northeast. why isn't there a travel ban in some really hard hit areas this time? ommmmmmm ommmmmmm ommmmmmm ommmmmmm

meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of american energy security. the new energy superpower? it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ susan ] my promotion allowed me to start

investing for my retirement. transamerica made it easy. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. who cares what it holds, if it can't hold your gaze? who cares how tight it can turn, if it can't turn heads? who cares how capable it is, if it's incapable of creating a reaction? any suv can move something. but can it move you? introducing the first-ever lexus nx turbo and hybrid. once you go beyond utility there's no going back. and an early morning mode. and a partly sunny mode. and an outside...to clear inside mode. transitions ® signature ™ adaptive lenses... ...now have chromea7 ™ technology... ...making them more responsive than ever to changing light. so life can look more vivid & vibrant.

why settle for a lens with just one mode? experience life well lit ®. speak with your eyecare professional to... ...upgrade your lenses to transitions ® signature ™ .

is the war on terror a war against radical islam? some people say yes. republican critics and some democratic critics want to hear president obama call it that. the president and the white house refuse to use that term. the president explained why to cnn's fareed zakaria. lindsey graham is bothers by the fact that you won't admit we're in a religious war. there are others who say the white house takes pains to avoid using the term islamic terrorist. my question to you is are we in a war with radical islam? i think >> i think the way to understand this is there is an element going out of muslim communities in certain parts of the world that have perverted the religion have embrace aid nigh list tick violent, almost

medieval interpretation of islam. and they're doing damage in a lot of countries around the world. but it is absolutely true that i reject a notion that somehow that creates a religious war, because the overwhelming majority of muslims reject that interpretation of islam. they don't even recognize it as being islam. and i think that for us to be successful in fighting this skerj, it's very important for us to align ourselves with the 99.9% of muss lips who are looking for the same thing we're looking for, order, peace, prosperity. and so i don't quibble with labels. i think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that that is roots in muslim

communities. and that the middle east and south asia are ground zero for us needing to win back hearts and minds, particularly when it comes to young people. but i think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of muslims reject this ideology. >> let's dig deeper. joining us is james reese, also our military analyst, mark hurtling and philip mudd here in "the situation room." do you agree with the president's position refusing to brand it radical islam? >> i think we have to look at this through the eyes of the adversary. what did i for decades at the agency? >> the cia. >> the adversary wants good versus evil. they want to portray them services not as murderers but

people who are responsible for defensing the faith. we want to walk into this environment and give them what they want. they are going to if we make this into radical islam say we are the crusaders. i do theed aver sayrety. the adversary wants us to paint this as a war against islam. >> you are saying the president is right? >> i am. >> what about that general? >> i absolutely agree. that is the perfect way to say it. i will take it further, having had chai and sat around with muslims in iraq and other places of the world, these people do not agree with most of the things that sha ree ya law goes toward. they don't agree with al qaeda or isis. it would be as if we were calling a war against the ku klux klan a war against christian extremists. they are evil people and -- it

didn't belong as a religious fight. >> paul, let's me put to the attack on the kosher supermarket. you are getting reporting about amedy coulibaly and the reports that he filmed video of himself. as he was carrying out the murders there, the attack. what are you hearing? >> that's right. i have been briefed by a source who has been briefed by investigators who have watched this video. it's seven minutes long. it shows coulibaly storming into the supermarket and killing three of the shoppers there. but i'm told today it also shows that he had trouble reloading his machine gun. he was not able to reload his machine gun after that initial attack. also that he had poor weapons handling skills. the take away from investigators is he is unlikely to have received terror training in a camp overseas. >> what do you make of that

that coulibaly was unable to reload his weapon? >> well wolf we have seen it. a weapon like that the ak-47, when you are under stress could easily cause someone to not be able to reload and recharge it and get are t readied to go. i believe that one we see this video -- i'm not sure the french are ever going to release this video. we will see other things on the other side that's not going to make things look too well from the french side as they assaulted that piece. i think there's a lot of ugly scenes going on there. >> colonel, over the weekend there was that new video released purporting to show the beheading of the japanese journalist who was being held hostage by isis. despite reports that japan and jordan had been negotiating with isis for his release. do you think isis was ever really serious about these negotiations? >> i do wolf. initially i think they looked at it. but as things drew on as the jordans brought the pilot in something started to happen

here. i think this is just a way for isis to try to show you know their power, their side of the negotiations that they will do this. i'm hoping -- and i do think that the jordanian pilot is alive and there's a chance they will be able to negotiate him out. >> realistically, general -- we hope it doesn't happen. let's say isis beheads this jour dap -- this jordanian pilot. >> it would be catastrophic for isis if they executed him, wolf. you have to recall, too, i heard representative king's comments to you earlier. jordan also is a country where a lot of recruits to jihad are brought from. so i think you see in the newspaper reports showing the jordanian tribes and the government are both opposed. all they wanted was proof of life. if they don't get that it's going to cause a huge backlash

not necessarily military but certainly from the people of jordan against isis. a lot of people agree with what isis is doing who live in jordan right now. this could be catastrophic and would be a huge strategic error for isis. >> the jihadi john the guy who has this mask on makes the threats, got the knife, presumably he is the one who beheads the hostages how important is it to get this guy? >> not as much as you might think. if you are going to eliminate a terror group, you have to find fix and finish the leadership. that's the leaders, the people who gather money, the people who train. this is a lower level guy. you can not divert attention, unless he gives you a vulnerability, an avenue to get to leadership. he is a media focus. i would focus -- >> would it be demoralizing to isis and the supporters if he were killed? >> actually i don't think so. they have enough of these guys. we heard reports of 1,000-plus people going from western

europe. i think they have enough people in behind -- it's like sharks teeth where they could replace him easily. >> guy, thanks to all of you. breaking news coming up next. details of the deadly winter storm sweeping across almost a third of the united states. live to one of the areas being hit hardest right now. we come by almost every day to deliver your mail

so if you have any packages you want to return you should just give them to us i mean, we're going to be there anyway why don't you just leave it for us to pick up? or you could always get in your car and take it back yourself yeah, us picking it up is probably your easiest option it's kind of a no brainer ok, well, good talk how much money do you have in your pocket right now? i have $40 $21. could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement? i don't think so. well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years that retirement challenge

might not seem so big after all. ♪ ♪ there's nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical

help right away. why pause the moment? ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. for a free 30-tablet trial go to cialis.com our "name your price" tool helps -- oh, jamie you got a little something on the back of your shoe there. a price tag! danger! price tag alert! oh. hey, guys. price tag alert! is this normal? well, progressive is a price tag free zone. we let you tell us what you want to pay and we help you find options to fit your budget. where are they taking him? i don't know. this seems excessive! decontamination in progress. i don't want to tell you guys your job, but... policies without the price tags. now, that's progressive.

record snowfall dangerously cold temperatures treacherous driving conditions part of a winter whallop being felt by 100 million americans. boston has set a record of more than 34 inches of snow. tonight, the city is postponing the super bowl victory parade. let's go to brian todd in andover, massachusetts. that snow is coming down. >> reporter: it's coming down wolf. it has not stopped all day, since after midnight eastern time last night. technically, the volume here is less than it was last week. maybe between 10 and 14 inches total in this storm compared to more than 2 1/2 feet last week. i can tell you that the conditions are worse. they seem to be worse for different reasons. you have freezing temperatures now. this is a particularly dangerous

time of the evening, because the roads are starting to freeze. as we switch from the outside camera i will switch to the dash camera. you have emergency vehicles coming in here. the emergency vehicles the plows, snow crews, are having a more difficult time seemingly in this one because there's no place to put the snow after last week. when we switch from the dash come he with will go to the inside camera and hit the road here. another reason why this snow seems to be a little bit more treacherous than last week from our perspective is the question of visibility. as my photo journalist and i pull out, we will switch you back again to the dash camera so you can get a sense of this is -- lowell street in massachusetts. the vissnowplow cruise pull out and keep the roads at least a little bit clear. they are up against it tonight. the snow has fallen at a rate faster than they can work even though they have been working all day to try to clear these roads. >> thanks very much brian.

we will stay in close touch with you. i want to check in with our meteorologist at the cnn severe weather center monitoring the storm. what are you seeing tom? >> what we are seeing the warmth records across much of the states go back 140 years. that's 140 winters and we're breaking, shattering records. like this street in chicago, more than the thousands of schools that are closed it's the tens of thousands of city workers and many locations that are working 24/7. this is not going to melt soon. last week's snowfall in boston the greatest january snowfall on record. chicago, greatest february snowfall. they only needed 14 inches to crack the top ten. this is five the fifth greatest snowfall. how about detroit? the third greatest snowfall on record at 16.7. this is an old total from boston at 9.9. they have haven't updated it. we believe it's a foot. now the heaviest snow is coming down. they could end up with easily 15. the back edge the last gasp of

the storm is leaving areas of massachusetts. it has left long island. you had your sleet. look for reizing we talked about the heaviest band to move through. that is moving through now. it's a quick mover going to add up to 15 as a total. then it slides north. we move it to portland banger and canadian air times. temperatures are dropping and going to drop even more. it's 10 in boston. wind chill advisories in effect. the bad news forecast for a much colder air mass to slide in the same region by the end of the week. >> that is bad news tom. thanks very much tom. by the way, the picture on the bottom right hand corner that's boston. we're expecting the new england patriots and charter flight to be arriving soon.

hopefully they'll arrive smooth and not have to depart to another airport. the parade supposed to be tomorrow, now scheduled for wednesday. more on this winter storm affecting hundreds of americans. more of this breaking news coming up. stay with us. others might? ♪ ♪ meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more

oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of american energy security. the new energy superpower? it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more. sir, we're going to need you on the runway later. don't let a severe cold hold you back. get theraflu... ...with the power of three medicines to take on your worst pain and fever, cough and nasal congestion. it breaks you free from your toughest cold and flu symptoms. theraflu. serious power.

[ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica.

i love my shows, but i can't just sit around all day. that's why i have xfinity. their cloud based dvr lets me take everything i recorded, anywhere i go. which is perfect for me, [whispering] because i have responsibilities. ...i mean that's really interesting, then how do you explain these photos?! [people gasping] objection your honor. sustained. with the x1 dvr library you could take anywhere, xfinity is perfect for people on the go. got brand new comments stirring controversy for two potential republican candidates huckabee and rand paul. listen to what huckabee told dana bash on state of the union. >> this is not just a political

issue. it's a biblical issue. it's a biblical issue, unless i get a new version of the scriptures. it's not my place so a okay i'm going to evolve. it's like something somebody that's jewish to start serving bacon wrapped shrimp in their deli. people can be my friends that have lifestyles that are not my lifestyle. i don't shuck people out of my life because they have a point of view. i don't drink alcohol, but gosh a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. i don't use profanity, but a lot of folks do. >> dana is here to talk about the interview along with chief political analyst gloria borger. how are those comments going to play in a republican primary? >> in a republican primary in a place like iowa probably well. let me give you the context of

this. in this new book he's out promoting, he talks about the fact that people might be surprised that despite the fact he is opposed to gay marriage he believes his religious belief that people should not be homosexual. he has them over for dinner, socializing with them. i was trying to get him to square the fact he's friends with them and he's potentially open to it. that's when he said he compares it to other choices. clearly he believes it's a choice not that a you're born with it. >> i think that's the problem beyond iowa or south carolina. if you look at polls in the country now, there's a major shift on gay marriage. democrats 74%. republicans only 30% for it. look at number of independents. 58% support gay marriage.

jeb bush coming out saying the party cannot be perceived antigay. he believes it's up to the state as. >> to another controversial comment. senator rand paul was on cnbc and suggested vaccines should be voluntary. i want to play this clip. listen to this. >> i think vaccines are one of the greatest medical break throughs we have. i'm a great fan and history of development of smallpox vaccine. for most of our history they have been voluntary. i don't think i'm arguing anything out of the ordinary. we're arguing for what most the history has had. >> dana obviously talking about measles vaccines. almost all doctors say you know what you've got to do this for your kids. there's no question how important this is. he's a doctor by the way. >> he's a doctor and has vaccinated his kids and thinks

it's important. it's a fine line he and other republicans are trying to walk making it a personal choice versus something the government wants you to do. that's a no no particularly if you're someone like rand paul that came from the tea party movement. what he's basic li trying to do is say he believes it's the right thing to do as a doctor and father but not telling other people. >> what do you think? >> i think this is an interview that got pretty contentious for a lot of reasons. dana and i talked to people who work for senator paul. he felt -- the interviewer was condescending and got condescending back. one thing led to another. his position on vaccines i think he's basically saying it's a matter of personal choice and freedom. i think if you have a kid that might be infected by another child in disney land that's -- you know you have a right to

ask that question. >> or an adult for that matter. it's so important. >> or a newborn. >> all these children with measles, whatever they've got to do it. thanks. that will codo it for me. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. er erin bur net "upfront." measles outbreak spreading across the country. a new case in new york. outrage at the antivaccine movement. whitney houston's daughter bobbi christina brown is battling for her life after she was found face down in a bathtub. we have the latest on her condition tonight. let's go