philadelphia, and then on to new york city, long island. the winds that will be a huge, huge problem. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." cnn's coverage of this historic storm continues with erin burnett "outfront." good evening to all. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, following the breaking news, you're looking at live pictures right now of a snowstorm of epic proportions sweeping across much of the united states. nearly 100 million people in this deadly storm's path. the amazing pictures that you're seeing show the breadth of the storm. this one is from outer space. you can see how huge it is and it's breaking record. snowfall totals already breaking records, up to 3 feet in some areas predicted. you can see how heavy it's coming down. strong winds, gusting as high as 65 miles an hour coming with the

snow. it's moving up the east coast. new york city in its sights in the next few hours. icy conditions have turned roads deadly. four killed today in north carolina. two in tennessee. state and local officials pleading with drivers to stay off the roads. ad 6500, that's right, 6500 flights already canceled. that number is going to go up. almost every flight in the washington, d.c., and philadelphia area now grounded. president obama taking time out to watch the snow fall on the nation's capital. the city expecting one of the worst storms in its history. our reporters are fanned out across much of the country covering this epic storm. miguel marquez is in baltimore. nick valencia in fairfax, virginia. rene marsh at reagan international airport. we begin with brian todd who is actually on the road in dale city, virginia. brian, you have been riding and obviously you have your special gear on. officials telling drivers to stay home. what are you seeing?

>> reporter: erin, a short time ago a state trooper told me that the area that we're in right now is what he said, quote, a hot mess. we're about to show you what he means. i'll get out of the vehicle and go to the dash camera and show you an exit off 395 south headed to southern virginia just coming south from washington, d.c., and the road conditions are getting mch worse. the visibility is getting much worse. they have just blocked this exit because people are having trouble getting off this exit. we're going to show you what we mean, switching to our other camera here. people down here have had to get off the exit and go to the west over here up this incline. and look, you've got two cars that are stranded trying to turn around and get up here. one of them did a 180 and slid off into that ditch. the other one over there is having a hard time turning armed. this other tax ti cab is tryingo back out of that exit.

that's a microcosm of what people are going through. the police said between midnight and 3:00 p.m. eastern time, four hours ago, there were more than 500 accidents in the state of virginia. it certainly has gone up since then because state troopers that we talked to along this stretch of highway are telling us that the conditions are just getting much worse. you can see the snowdrifting, kind of from side to side here. that's a problem, too. high winds are going to be more intense as the night goes on and that's going to cause more of a snowdrift problem and visibility problem. our photo journalist will pan to my right, his left. this is 395 south. it's really incredible how much volume you're talking about on the road right now. people were told to get off these roads. still, you can see a lot of people not really heeding the warnings and that's what is leading to a lot of problems tonight. we've witnessed multiple of strandings, some accidents. we saw one person spin out and did a 180 right in front of us. erin, this is what people are

going through. it's only going to get worse. the most intense part of this storm starts about five hours from now. as an example of what we're talking about, what state officials are saying, the tennessee highway patrol tweeted a short time ago, they are saying we are desperately pleading for people to get off the state highways. that was in tennessee. that's a sentiment echoed here in virginia. you don't hear the word desperately when state troopers advise the public but that's what they are doing tonight, erin. >> it's amazing that people are ignoring that. it's only going to get worse and worse. of washington.o baltimore north- the city could get 2 feet or more of snow over the next few hours. miguel marquez is there. miguel, what are conditions like where you are? as we know, over the next few hours, it's going to pick up and get really bad. you already have a lot of snow. >> reporter: you know baltimore

well. it's cold and snowing hard and it's only going to get worse. the wind is picking up. they are expecting to get much more -- sorry about that, guys. they are expecting the snow to get much more wet and that's a problem for the trees, for power lines and roofs across the entire state of maryland in emergency conditions right now. you can see the roads here have been so cold for so long, the roads here are already packed with snow. they are urge being peal to get off them. emergency vehicles, if there is a fire, they can actually get there. look at this way. typically there are a lot of people on the inner harbor. it's been transformed over the last couple of hours by the amount of snow. they are expecting 2 feet here in baltimore itself. 30 inches in the area around it and perhaps more in other parts of the state. the big concern is coming overnight when the snow drives in even harder and the wind up to 60 miles per hour. some of the gusts. the regular wind, just the wind speed itself between 25 and 35.

treacherous, treacherous conditions. officials urging everyone to not only stay indoors but make sure and check on the elderly, the disabled, anybody that might need a little more help. erin? >> miguel, thank you very much. the winds drive this home of how dangerous it is. i want to go to the director of washington, d.c.,'s homeland security and emergency management agency. chris, thank you for being with me. you know, we just saw -- you hear miguel talking about 65-mile-an-hour winds coming. you saw our brian todd on the road. people ignoring a lot of the messages. the word "desperate" being used by the police. people are still driving. what do you say to those people right now to get them off the road? >> reporter: erin, i don't know what else it's going to take to let folks know this is a potentially dangerous storm. we all in the public safety community have been saying it for a few days now and we just really, really need the folks to

understand, when they go out there like this, as the storm is now and as it gets worse, they are not only putting their own lives in jeopardy, they are putting the lives of the first responders in jeopardy. we can't stay strongly enough, we need folks off the road and to stay home. >> what is your biggest worry tonight, chris? >> reporter: erin, we just got an update on the weather and it's even worse as we get the update as the storm moves even closer. you know, getting the -- the fact that we're going to have potentially from midnight until noon tomorrow snow coming down at the rates of 6 inches -- 10 inches every six hours throughout that period of time with wind gusts rapidly at 40 to 50 miles per hour, even going higher than that potentially and even having lightning within these storms, this is just -- this is a big storm. and the potential for life-threatening things within

that, those are our biggest concerns right now. >> i'm looking at the numbers, the latest forecast that you're sharing with us. you're looking north of two feet, right? that's 20 inches over that time. you already have a lot on the ground and you're going to get more after that. how do you then go about recovering from this? and that's also asking people to stay inside after a long time. >> reporter: yeah, it is. and we have a full plan that wech in place for how we're going to start to dot clean-up on this and that's going to go into effect. we're plowing through the night as long as the situation dictates. we want to make sure that our folks are okay as well. we're continuously plowing and we have been now for going on for three hours. once the pretreatment has been overcome by the snow, we've been plowing all along and we'll continue to plow when situations

like the wind gets dangerous for our folks. we'll get them out there as soon as possible. but really, really, we're focused right now on making sure we get the first responders where they need to go and asking folks to helplessen that load by not becoming a victim of this unnecessarily. >> and not risking it. chris, thank you very much. chad myers is "outfront" now. you just heard chris saying they are getting the latest forecast, that they are going to get at least 2 feet of snow. it's going to get much, much worse and it already looks awful. >> and it hasn't even started. the low hasn't even developed yet. >> wow. >> this is like -- i don't want to get too deep into this metaphor but it's like trying to make thanksgiving dinner. you have to get so many things tote h togethtogether but we ha thing after another. the cold has to get there first. then the humidity has to come in. then the low has to come in and high pressure has to move to the

north. all of these things have added up to a perfect system, a perfect storm. a perfect turkey dinner. what is going to happen is the low is here. it's going to jump around it and over into this very warm water off the gulf stream right through here. the cold air is coming in. the cold air with the warm water is going to make the low intensify rapidly. it hasn't even done it yet. it will. it will run up the each coast as the major nor'easter. this is just starting. this is just putting salt on the turkey. let's move this ahead. we're seeing snow in d.c. and baltimore and 5 or 6 inches around richmond, virginia. we have 7 inches of snow in stanton. this is the precursor to the low developing as a nor'easter. this is just the moisture coming up. roanoke, i-81, a mess. farther to the south, it's ice. charleston, raleigh, instand ice. i'm getting e-mails from atlanta saying what is going on?

there's some snowflakes here. the event is farther to the north. it's in d.c., baltimore, philadelphia, and even getting closer and closer to new york city. so there's our bomb, our bull's eye. farther to the north, new york city, about 12 inches. could be plus or minus 2 or 3. south of philadelphia, plus minus. 28 inches or more 11, the models for new york city. let's show you what new york city is doing into d.c. farther to the south where the moisture and low is going to be closer, 31 is the forecast for one model and 24 for the other. you average it out and it's an amazing storm of 50 miles per hour. erin? >> these are stunning numbers that we're talking about. chad is going to be with us as we go through the hour. next, more of our breaking

coverage of this major snowstorm blanketing much of the country. ice storm in south carolina paralyzing charlotte. and air travel at a complete halt. this is also historic. a live report on that. and we'll be right back. when my doctor told me i have age-related macular degeneration, amd we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression. and everywhere i look... i'm reminded to stick to my plan. including preservision areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula that the national eye institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd... after 15 years of clinical studies. preservision areds 2. because my eyes are everything. and ca"super food?" is that recommend sya real thing?cedar?

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all right. breaking news as we track the monster snowfall slamming much of the nation tonight. officials up and down the east coast urging, urging, pleading, even angrily so on this program telling people to stay home. fairfax, virginia, is right in the cross-hairs. nick valencia is there. he's with crews of the virginia department of transportation. nick, at this point, it's pointing to a major, major record-breaking snowfall. what are they doing? this is not in their normal line of thinking. >> well, let's show you. this is the epicenter of preparation. the virginia department of transportation. the snowplow driver has been working well. what's going on? what are the conditions like? how do you see it? >> it's another big storm. >> reporter: you said you came out here as a contractor and

you're expecting to be out here for a while? >> yes, i work out of the flint hill area and i've been doing this for a long time so you can tell it's going to be another big storm, i believe. so -- >> reporter: how does this compare to past storms? how does this compare to all of the storms that you have seen as a plow driver? >> well, you know, you get the big ones. you get your big snows and it's -- you know what i mean? it differs. smaller snows are a little easier than big snows, it's harder on stuff. you're down here a lot longer. >> reporter: you're clearing out this pathway right now. working with salt? brine? >> mostly we have salt going out. we mixed up salt and sand up there for the neighborhoods but for the main roads we're sending salt out. i just keep this cleared off so it doesn't get too deep. >> reporter: we appreciate your time. thank you for taking the time with cnn. lots of preparations going on,

erin. more than 4,000 pieces of heavy equipment out there on the roads. they've been preparing for this since 7:00 p.m. the worst of the storm is going to happen throughout the weekend. officials telling us up to 40 inches around the d.c. area. that's an average of 3 to 6 inches per hour. this storm is really living up to all of the hype. erin? >> stunning numbers when you're talking about 40 inches. something that a lot of people can't even imagine. and the impact of this is being felt, frankly, worldwide when you look at the flight situation. more than 6500 flights canceled already. that number is going to go up. aviation correspondent rene marsh is "outfront" at reagan international airport. you are very lonely there, rene? >> very lonely. i even hear my echo here. it's 7:00, a little past 7:00 on a friday night and, take a look, you don't see this very often. the only people here, essentially airport workers and the media. airlines have officially suspended all airport operations

here at reagan international airport and other northeastern airports that are taking a direct hit from this massive storm. we're talking about cancellations between today stretching into sunday, nearly 7,000. that's a lot. and then you talk about the ripple effect. when you have so many flights canceled, that means planes aren't where they are supposed to be. and that means not only the people in the northeast will be impacted, other people nationwide, potentially some other international travelers could feel the pain of the travel woes here all because of this massive storm. erin? >> rene, thank you very much. nearly 7,000 flights canceled and just an incredible image. that airport is completely empty. a ghost town. our storm hitting the carolinas with icy roads and power outages. there's a lot more to come when you're talking about this 40-inch possible accumulations.

alina machado is live in charlotte. ice is a major issue for you? >> reporter: yeah, erin. that's the begin concern tonight. here in north carolina, the storm has already turned deadly. some four people have already lost their lives in weather-related accidents. here in charlotte, you can see the roads despite the efforts of crews are still slushy and icy. they are not the kind of roetd th road to be driving in tonight. you mentioned ice. we're starting to see some ice accumulating in certain sections. you can see it here at this pay station and also along this pole. the reason is, we've been seeing sleet for the last few hours. so far, at least 114 customers from duke energy are without power in the carolinas. and erin, the concern is that the number will grow as temperatures stay below freezing overnight. >> thank you very much, alina. i want to go now to the mayor of north carolina. she's joining me on the phone.

you heard alina reporting on the streets of north carolina. how have you been dealing with this storm? >> we had all of the flights into our airports canceled today as well and we are telling folks to stay off the roads. this is ice and you can't always see it but it's below 30 degrees now. i think it's 28 or 29 degrees. so all of that water is going to be freezing. we do have brine and salt on the major roads but we are just telling folks to stay out of the way of the equipment and stay ho home. >> and hoping that they heed that. we've seen people ignoring some of the warnings, perhaps with deadly, deadly consequences. you have something major happening in charlotte this weekend on sunday. the panthers are hosting the arizona cardinals. that's the nfc championship game. is that going to go ahead no matter what? >> well, we are lucky it's an

evening game so the temperature is supposed to get up to the 40s on sunday, which will help melt a lot of things. our concern is people traveling here who are coming here for their team and even coming from our region and it's going to be messy travel throughout the day on saturday. so we are telling folks to be careful. i suspect some people may be rerouting and not taking planes but looking to drive and we just hope that it clears up enough on sunday to keep those roads safe. >> mayor roberts, thank you very much for being "outfront" tonight. next, the blizzard moving up the east coast, snow is falling in philadelphia and new york city. next. more breaking news, a new poll released. donald trump with a 14-point lead. this is a national poll. is the republican party finally getting ready to back trump? s n. no one surface... no one speed... no one way of driving on each and every road. but there is one car that can conquer them all.

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we continue to follow the breaking news tonight. paralyzing and deadly storm pounding the east coast. 85 million americans feeling the wrath of the historic storm. i want to show you live pictures out of washington, d.c.. historic already. and now we were just hearing

from the head of emergency management there that they could be getting 10 inches every six hours. incredible snowfall rate. nearly 7,000 flights already canceled. snow and freezing rain blanketing roads, making it dangerous. very dangerous, deadly for anyone to be out driving. officials telling cnn that crews are responding to thousands of accidents. and nasa just releasing a new satellite animation of the storm. its sheer size forcing seven states to declare states of emergencies. officials are worried now, when you're looking at snowfall totals that could be 40 inch ors higher, roofs could be collapsing, power lines could be falling, heat cut off to hundreds of thousands. this is something that could last for days. it's incredible deadly. miguel marquez is live "outfront" in baltimore where a blizzard warning is now in effect. miguel, the snow is now, just the past few minutes, picking up. >> reporter: the snow is picking up and the wind is picking up as well. i want to show you what is going

on here. they are talking about the snow being much heavier. you can see the wind picking up. these are the streets of baltimore. tonight people are trying to keep the sidewalks clear. the snow is sticking to the roads very, very quickly and piling on there. they are trying to keep them clear. this is what the inner harbor looks like, completely baron, for the most part. very few people are out. baltimore itself expecting up to 2 feet of snow. it take as view from outer space to capture the sheer size of this monster storm. west to east, 85 million americans in 22 states, one-quarter of the country's population in its path. the storms already turned deadly. at least four people in north carolina and another in tennessee killed in storm-related car crashes. but it's the nation's capital that may be hardest hit of all. the storm there predicted to be unlike any that has hit the city in almost 100 years.

mayor muriel bowser preparing for the absolute worst. >> this is a major storm. it has life and death implications. >> reporter: the predictions are staggering. more than 30 inches of snow, record-breaking totals expected in many areas. powerful winds gusting up to 65 miles per hour crippling ice and turning snapping trees and power lines causing power outages. seven states in washington, d.c., have declared states of emergency. hundreds of car accidents reported over the past few days in virginia alone. the overriding message from the city and state leaders -- >> if you don't have to drive, don't drive. if you don't have to leave your home, don't. stay inside. >> stay indoors, stay safe. >> please be very careful. stay off the roads. >> i would plead with everyone, don't go on the roads. >> reporter: at airports, more

than 6,000 flights have been canceled a he many more cancellations expected. this united flight landed at chicago o'hare and no was injured but it's a sign of a horrendous weekend ahead. the worst is yet to come here in baltimore and for many across the east coast. the wind is starting to pick up as the snow gets more heavy and wet. they are concerned about the trees coming down, the power lines coming down. roofs perhaps damaged as well. the baltimore and much of the east coast in for one heck of a night. erin? >> one heck of a night, as you say. and it's going to get worse and worse as the time goes on. let's go to washington. jennifer gray is live "outfront" there. historic snowfall now almost certain from the numbers. jennifer, what are conditions like where you are? >> reporter: well, erin, we're continuing to see conditions deteriorate minute by minute. in fact, just a couple of hours ago, out here on the lawn, you

could see just grass. we didn't see any snow. it was coming down very light. you can see a blanket of snow behind me. i would say it started at 1:00 on the dot this afternoon but in the last hour or so it has really started to pick up. you can see this very fat, wet flakes. it's heavy snow. and that on top of the winds we're expected to see, 30 and 40-mile-per-hour gusts, it's going to result in power outages. luckily, no one is on the street. every now and then we'll see a car and you see salt trucks that. is good news. people are heeding those warnings. i think a lot of it has to do with what happened a couple of days ago when d.c. got an inch of snow and the entire city was at a standstill. it's good that people are at home and now coming up on a weekend, we're good to go. people are staying at home and not getting out on the roads. we're going to get far worse before we get better.

erin, we're going to see snowfall rates at 2 to 3 inches per hour as we get into the overnight hours. we're going to see possible blizzard conditions that extends up the 95 corridor. so we're going to be in this for the long haul. it's a slow mover and we're going to see a lot of snow here in d.c. two to three possible over the next 24 to 36 hours. erin? >> the main blessing is that it's on a weekend. so many kids are thrilled about this epic storm. i want to go now to chad myers. chad, the other major concern tonight is the storm surge, right? and because it's so slow moving, pick up all of the warm water, that could be deadly. >> reporter: right. and we have a full moon which means the higher tides already and we have the wind blowing all of this water towards the shore and we'll have wave heights of 15 to 20 feet. there's no question. the waves will be smashing into new jersey and into long island and the water funnels through the long island sound and into the east river and tries to

flood the coastal areas. look at the wind speeds. this is late, late tonight. 55 miles per hour in ocean city. by tomorrow morning, those winds will approach 70. so this in itself is almost a tropical storm that will batter the coastal regions. we're also going to see this water begin to build up. it's piling. if you push the water long enough, it's going to start get higher right along the coast and up into the hudson and up into delaware and wilmington and into the chesapeake as well. one thing of the chesapeake, the winds are going across the bay and not up into the bay so it's slightly less than what we could have had the position of the low been slightly different. but it is going to be the wind with the snow, the wind making waves and the wind making storms. this did not make landfall like sandy did but it's the push of water and the surge of water,

three to four feet above high tide and these are the highest tides of the year. of course, a full moon. >> yeah, the full moon. wow. thank you very much, chad. "outfront" next, coverage of the blizzard. and a new republican poll just out and a major republican magazine calling donald trump a menace. you up at night... you can't work from home the next day. [ coughing ] that's why you need alka seltzer plus day night liquid gels. it's tough cold symptom fighters provide powerful relief. relief that helps you sleep at night and gets you back out there during the day. [ deep breath ] [ truck horn ] alka-seltzer plus day night liquid gels. also available, in stores alka-seltzer plus night time hot drink mix. i thione second it's there.day. then, woosh, it's gone.

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breaking news, a deadly b z blizzard is barrelling up the east coast. 100,000 people have already lost power. this will go on for hours and hours. several inches falling a minute at the peak. a new poll in the republican presidential race, there is a big headline here. it gives donald trump a huge margin nationally. ahead, 14 points of his nearest competitor ted cruz. it's a national poll and 14-point margin. the fight tonight isn't just between trump and cruz. it's between both men and the

republican party. sunlen serfaty is "outfront" from des moines. >> people don't even think about the national reviews. >> reporter: in an unprecedented move, the "national review" out with a complete and total takedown of trump, calling him a menace to american conservativism who would take the work of generations and trample it under the populism as the donald himself. over 20 respected conservatives piling on. trump trying to brush it off. >> that's a dying newspaper. >> reporter: cruz is continuing to be raked over the coals by establishment republicans and would take down this week from iowa senator chuck grassley and former presidential nominee bob dole who called cruz an extremist who would bring cat chaos. this underscores how much the

establishment wing of the republican party is still deeply dissatisfied with the front-runners but with front and cruz on top of the polls. the decision the party is facing is who will do more harm to the party long term. >> you know, whether it's death by being shot or poisoning, does it really matter? >> reporter: the two continue to inflict serious blows on each other. >> cruz is going down. >> reporter: trump unloading on cruz, releasing his first negative tv ad today painting trump as pro-amnesty. trump airs his own ad on eminent domain, seizing private property for public use. >> i think it's wonderful. >> reporter: portraying the real estate developer as a power hungry land snatcher. >> he supports using government power to seize private people's homes to give them to giant

corporations to say hypothetically build a casino. >> reporter: trump tweeting back and in response saying, "without it, we wouldn't have airports, roads, highways or even schools or pipelines. and the rnc has responded to the "national review" and has disinvited them from participating in the republican debate next month on cnn. erin? >> sunlen, thank you very much in des moines tonight. one of the few places without snow. and a deadly snowstorm is slamming the east coast well into the middle of the country. plus, a very special story for me about the amazing woman who changed my life. we have over 15,000 activities that you can book on our app to make sure your little animal, enjoys her first trip to the kingdom. expedia, technology connecting you to what matters.

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we're "outfront" tonight with the breaking news. the monster storm crippling the eastern seaboard. it's now snowing in washington, baltimore and philadelphia. here in new york, hours away from a whiteout. a state of emergency has been declared in delaware. eight states with states of emergency. we're looking here at likely records. 40 inches possibly with 100 million people in the path of the storm. winter weather advisories, coastal flood watch for most of the nation. brian todd is driving through woodbridge, virginia. brian, on the road where you are, what are the conditions like? >> erin, conditions are very bad and steadily getting very worse.

they have been for several hours. we're in near whiteout conditions in woodbridge, virginia. we're on route 1 heading north. i'm going to show you our dash cam ra, our photo journalist controlling that. he's going to switch to the dash cam ra now. looking at some of these conditions, normally commuters are going to and from washington. now you can see that they heeded the calls to stay off the walls but those people on the roads are having a lot of problems tonight. we have witnessed several strandings and seen people trying to get off an exit not long ago, not being able to get off that exit off of 395 south and they've had to then shut down that exit. then we saw people trying to go the opposite way, the wrong way out of that exit and slipping and sliding as they were trying to get out. that's how desperate they have been getting, just trying to get from point a to point b. again, we can't stress it enough, that's why virginia state officials and officials in maryland and d.c. have pleaded with people, absolutely do not

come out. the mayor of washington said only first responders should be out. right now it looks like people around this area are heeding that call. i think we're going to go back to one of the main arteries, 95, and see that there may be some other stranded there, erin. conditions steadily getting much worse. >> much worse. brian has been talking and you didn't see a single snowplow. a lot of this part of the country is not used to these kinds of storms. people could be stuck there for quite some time there in frigid conditions. let's go to sara ganim. >> reporter: officials are hoping that people will stay here this weekend because they are looking at between 12 and 22 inches of snow over the next 24

to 36 hours. that's more than this city gets in an entire month of january. officials began prepping for this as far back as wednesday. they will have 400 plows out here. 450 in the greater philadelphia area. here's the good news on this storm, erin. last year at this time, many cities like philadelphia, their budgets were already tight because this was many storms into the season. this is the first big snow they've had this season and so they are ready for it and their budgets are full. erin? >> hopefully that will mean a quicker clean-up. thank you, sara. cnn anchors have been bringing you stories of a person who changed their life. for me, that person was an easy call. it all started with a newspaper article about her and the stalker letter that the story inspired me to write.

♪ >> stand by. >> i didn't have a plan. i didn't have a plan, oh, i'm going to go into television and this is the way i'm going to go about it. if i look at my life, there was one person that really changed things for me. >> ten seconds. >> i do have these thoughts that my life really has come full circle. >> new tonight, hillary clinton comes out swinging and donald trump. >> i started out as an analyst at goldman sachs. i knew pretty early on when i did the game, where do you want to be in five, ten years from now, i new i didn't want to be a banker at goldman sachs. one morning i stayed up all night working on doing what we called a pitch book for a pharmaceutical company. so i had had one of those all-nighters which was very common for investment banking

analysts. my sister called and said, you've got to see this article in "the new york times." there was an article about willa bay. ♪ ♪ baby don't do me wrong >> she used to be the face of estee lauder. she went to business school so she was beautiful and incredibly accomplished and successful and all of a sudden she ends up with this amazing job at cnn. ♪ ♪ >> this is a cnn special report. the micro soft decision. >> i'm willow bay -- >> so when this article came out in the new york times, my brother and law sister said you should write willow a letter. >> i was new to this job, and i get this letter from a young analyst at goldman, an analyst at goldman saying i want to come work on your show. >> right now, we will focus on

wall street. at 1:00 eastern time the markets were in free fall. >> okay. here is the thing about the letter. it's an honest letter. it admits i was a stalker. it's very nerdy. it's a very nerdy letter. i don't remember anything other than being impressed with erin. impressed with how bold she was, am wish shows, i'm pressed with how skilled she was. impressed with how willing she was to just plain do the work, to pursue this dream of hers. ♪ ♪ >> willow called me. i went in to meet her, and that was the moment that changed my life. the job that she hired me for was to be her assistant. so i was going to be doing assistant tasks. i would be answering her phone and getting her lunch and things like that but she really wanted me to do was research for her

for the show. >> when erin came, i was executive producer of the show and i remember with erin the answer to every question was yes. can you look into this? yes. she always did it. whatever it was that we asked her to do. >> i think without question what i did on "money line" has made me better at what i do now. those basic things that i learned, even though they were -- i was such a junior player in all of it really paved the way for me to be able to do it myself and to be able to hit the ground running when i had the opportunity to be myself. >> i'm erin burnet in miami. for this edition of "executive spotlight". >> 2002 was another tough year, nearly 30% lower than 2011. ♪ ♪ >> i was lucky and willow was coming to new york and agreed to come to see me. >> there you are. >> and it turns out i still have the letter and i was able to

surprise her by reading it to her onset. >> is that the letter? >> that's the letter. >> you found it? >> willow bay. >> let me see. >> i notice the recent new york times article about your new position at the "money line" news hour, followed your career. this is the part i read. i'm a financial analyst in the investment banking division of goldman sachs, ding ding. [ laughter ] >> i continue to be intrigued by a career in business journalism. >> so this started off -- luckily that is what you read because here is what i remember. i noticed the recent new york times article about your position. i caught my attention because i followed your career since you appeared in the estee lauder ad. i'm fast nated by your decision so i laugh because i remember thinking should i put that reference to the estee lauder ad in there? that's why i call it a stalker

letter. >> it's in cheryl sandburg's book. such an important message, i think, about, you know, what it means to look for a mentor or look for a sponsor, somebody who advocates on your behalf, on your workplace that the relationship really is a mutual relationship. >> even when i was doing things at cnbc and nbc, i always knew i had willow to thank for it but somehow coming back to cnn really brought it home that this is -- this whole trajectory of my life that ended with this amazing opportunity where i'm so happy has been all because of her. >> i have to admit i'm humbled by being singled out by erin as somebody who changed the course of her life, but honestly, there was never a doubt when erin set foot in that office that she was going to be successful, and i don't say that lightly. i mean, it was just very clear

about her. ♪ ♪ >> when i returned to cnn, it wasn't just coming back to cnn to do a show. it was a show that ended up being same time of day as "money line." our show is at 7:00, hers is 6: oc 00 but it was an incredible over lap. like the world came full circle. >> sort of brings tears to my eyes to think about everything that she did for me. i want to add that willow who made many meaningful career moves throughout her life is now the director of the school of journalism at the university of southern california. we filmed her teaching helping young men and women learn how to tell stories, cover the news. she's so passionate about her students there. she's mentoring them. and i'm sure they know just how lucky they are to learn from her talent, her commitment and as you can see in that piece, her incredible graciousness.

you can see more at cnn.com/life changers and be sure to catch sanjay gupta's story and sunday night you can see them all. a two-hour prime time special that area at 8:00 eastern. we'll be right back. "beth" by kiss

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thank you so much for joining us. breaking news coverage continues with "ac 360" now. good evening. for 85 million people or more tonight, the breaking news is all around them. a winter storm bigger than anything in years and could end up being bigger than anything on record here, hitting hard and it could bring as much as three feet of snow in some places. and gail force winds, as well and coastal flooding. you're looking at some of the live locations that we'll check in with throughout the hour tonight including washington d.c. which could get the very worse. the entire public transit system with the rest of the city effectively shut down. the national guard is out in virginia at least four traffic fatalities in north carolina all flights cancelled, more than 6,000 in all and some of the country's biggest, biggest