i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. a bombshell report by the "new york times" reveals the fbi opened an investigation of president trump to see whether he had worked on behalf of russia. plus, making history. the u.s. government shutdown now becomes the longest shutdown in u.s. history. what life is like now for hundreds of thousands of american workers working without pay. also ahead this hour, missing for nearly three months. you can imagine people might have given up. but this teenage girl escaped captivity. she is now back with family.

>> we are live at cnn world headquarters in atlanta. i'm george howell. >> i'm natalie allen. cnn "newsroom" starts now. [ music playing ] and we begin with a shocking report from the "new york times" with explosive implications. the paper reports the fbi looked into whether donald trump, a sitting u.s. president, was working on behalf of russia and against american interests. >> this, the new statement alone, it is just unprecedented. according to "times," the fbi started the investigation, because it was concerned, worried about mr. trump's behavior, his actions after he fired fbi director james comey. the probe also triggered by mr. trump's own words. his public statements when he said in a tv interview, he dismissed comey because of the russia inquiry. to be clear, we don't know if

special counsel robert mueller is pursuing that probe as a part of his overall investigation into the russia collusion. the white house is quick to respovenltd sarah sanders calling this story absurd. comey was fired for being a disgraced party hack. >> rudy guiliani said this, quote, the fact that it goes back a year-and-a-half and nothing came of it showed a breach of national security means they found nothing. >> that according to the president's attorney. >> joining me to talk more about this, steve moore, a retired super agent at fbi. he's fwoot tgot the tie on for and russia operations chief. thank you for talking with us. i want to tuque to you, speev hall, how big could this be? is this a potential bomb shell. >> by the way you correctly

phrased the question, yeah, it's a very big deal. from a counter intelligence perspective, there was always a lot of questions about guys like michael flynn, palm manafort, more recently. a lot of people have been in the news because of the activities that they undertook and they were brought to justice after allegations. but there was always a question, oftentimes raised by the white house, themselves, yeah, but was the boss involved? did donald trump know what paul manafort was doing or michael flynn might have been doing? now from what we've learned from the reporting this evening is the fbi was seriously asking that question and, yeah, so that in and of itself i think is a big deal. of course, i'm divert to steve as to the details. for me from a counterintelligence perspective, it's a big deal. >> same question to you, steve. we'll break it down to what led to this your initial thoughts when you heard of this

investigation. >> i agree, any time you are investigating at any level the president for possible involvement with a foreign power in and of itself, that's an important investigation. i think, however, that the "new york times" was not real clear on how they explained what was going on. this was not a full investigation. this is what was called a preliminary inquiry, which is very limited in scope and can be opened simply on an allegation, which means there -- it can be opened without any evidence at all and it has to be closed, if nothing is found within six months. so it's not a criminal investigation as people would think of an fbi investigation. >> let's talk about what led to this investigation. it was apparently the interview that donald trump gave nbc about why he fired james comey. let's listen to that now. >> regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey, knowing there was no good time to do it.

and, in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. it's an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. >> so that was one of the things. the other thing was a letter that president trump planned to send to comey, which he apparently didn't do. let's go to you, steve, more to explain. what was it about this investigation and this letter that triggered the fbi? >> what triggered the fbi i believe is the fact that he repeatedly wanted to get at least on paper some type of evidence to support the fact that comey allegedly told him he wasn't being investigated for involvement with the russians and he really wanted this on paper somehow. and i can see why that would lead agents to be concerned. >> and to you, steven hall,

could the president have unwittingly come under russia's influence? >> well, sure. there is always a question, natalie, as to you know whenever somebody is associated with or perhaps the question is, you know was this person in the case the president of the united states involved or cooperating with russia, whether it was witting or unwitting, and that is probably has important legal distinctions. from a counter-intelligence perspective, though, which is a significantly lower bar than a legal bar. there had ban lot of in my assessment from the counterintelligence, there had been a lot of questionable activities on the part of this president. we mentioned a lot of them. russia with the 30,000 e-mails, i hope you find them. for example, in the oval office with sergei lavrov, that is something that every american official should know you don't talk about that dirty laundry in

front of anned ver airline is country and its representatives, because it allows them to take advantage of new a counterintelligence way. so legally, there is obviously a lot of thresholds and hoops that have to be jumped through before this gets much more serious. already, there is significant concern in counterintelligence patterns i think have emerged over the past couple of years and now they are perhaps beginning to culminate and come together. >> the white house is issuing partisan politics. here we go again with comey. does that argument on behalf of the white house have any merit to you, steve moore? >> well, here's the problem with narcs i i agree completely with steve about the counterintelligence aspect of this. the president is acting unwisely in this. however, when comey was fired, who was in charge and who could have authorized even something as small as a preliminary inquiry against donald trump? it would have been the acting director andrew mccabe and the

deputy assistant director in charge of counterstrell jens strzok. sow have two people compromised, not in the counterintelligence way, but the american people have that compromised trust in them because they were both marched out because of political bias, apparently. so the problem is you have the fruit of the poisonous tree. people are fought going to believe an investigation that is opened by those two guys after their boss got fired. and so i think it should rightly go to mueller because he apparently doesn't have that baggage. >> we will continue to watch it. it's a remarkable new development that we'll follow, steve moore, stephen hall. we thank you both. we appreciate your insights. >> thanks. >> sure. >> now to the partial u.s.

government shutdown. it lingers on, now officially this longest shutdown in u.s. history and forced some 800,000 federal employees. it means they have been left high and dry, hurting now for three weeks and counting. the collateral damage is piling up, house democrat versus passed bill after bill to reopen the government and get people back to work, but senate republicans ridicule those moves as stunts and say they won't move on anything until president trump says okay. for more, there's cnn caitlin collins. >> reporter: president trump backing off his threat to declare a national emergency to fund his border wall. >> we're not looking to do right now is a national emergency. >> reporter: the president making that comment during an immigration roundtable at the white house after warnings that he would likely set off a firestorm of critics as he bypassed congress to build his signature promise. though trump maintains he can if

he wants to. >> i have the absolute right to do it. >> reporter: washington is in a deadlock. and the white house has started exploring ways to pay for the wall without congress. after talks with democrats went nowhere. >> the only way you will stop it. the only way to stop it. without question, with a very powerful wall or steel barrier. >> reporter: despite warnings, trump could face a lengthy legal battle if he did use his emergency producers. senator lindsey graham urged him to do so after their meeting tweeting democrats don't want to make a deal and will never support a border wall. mr. president, declare a national emergency now. build a wall now. >> that comment despite graham saying last week a national emergency was a quote fallback position. but not all republicans are on board, including senator chuck grassley, who said the president should not do it. i think it might be a bad

precedent. this as vice president mike pence who has led negotiation on capitol hill, paid a visit to the border and protection headquarters. >> i know we do this in the midst of a partial government shutdown. it's no doubt created an sight for families who are gathered here today. >> reporter: making this pleblg to border agents who aren't getting paid. >> this president and this administration will keep fighting to build the wall and give you the resources and reforms you need to do your job. that's my promise. >> reporter: now, while declaring a national emergency isn't completely off the table, sources close to the president say he backed off that idea because he feared the sharp backlash he would get from not only democrats but republicans as well who feared he'd be setting a dangerous precedent. now, despite a flurry of activity over the last several weekends of this shutdown, right now cnn is told there are no meetings over the weekend and

they're essentially going to wait for lawmakers to get back in town. caitlin collins, cnn the white house. >> to get perspective on the shutdown showdown, where things stand now, let's bring in dr. richard johnson. he teaches u.s. politics and international relations at lancaster university in england joining my via skype. good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> dr. johnson the shutdown showdown lingers on president trump seeming to back down for now on his threats to declare a national emergency to build a border wall that he promised mexico would pay for, admitting it could get blocked in the courts. mr. trump says that is still an option, but he prefers a different path. listen. >> it's the easy way out. but congress should do this. this is too simple. it's too basic and congress should do this. if they can't do it, if at some point they just can't do it, this is a 15-minute meeting.

if they can't do it, i will declare a national emergency. i have the radio it ight to do . >> richard, with both sides dug in, where do you see things going from here? >> well the president probably does have the right to call a national emergency. at least he has the first move advantage on this. presidents since woodrow wilson have declared national emergencies. there is a very significant court case in 1952 against president harry truman when he tried to nationalize the steel industry in the midst of the korean war. the supreme court acted against the president and said he wasn't allowed to do that. what happened in the 1970s is that congress passed legislation, which the national emergency act of 1976, which was meant to constrain the president. by requiring the president to provide justification to congress for those actions.

what it's actually turned into, it's made it fairly easy for presidents to provide some kind of cursory justification and then to carry on and now i think if president trump does it in this case, i think he will certainly face legal action. we have to remember that the court has been increasingly tipping in a pro republican direction under this president and the supreme court, this majority republican court now. so i think that you know these dynamics are i think that the president has, you know, some room to maneuver with this. >> that could be concerning for people who are concerned about presidential overreach. >> almost. president trump also now getting credit for what he's officially -- what is officially the longest shutdown in u.s. history. what that means in dollars and cents for some hundreds of thousands of federal workers, many got a paycheck of zero dollars and zero cents.

i remember my grandmother say don't mess with people's money. some of the people affected may have voted for this president. do you think this leaves a lasting mark in the minds of these every day americans, these people getting checks that are worthless? >> i think it's very concerning and the federal workers are in a fairly weak bargaining position. since the taft-hartley act of 1947, federal workers haven't been allowed to go on strike. there have been incidents where federal workers have effectively gone on strike in 1981 famously, 11,000 air traffic controllers went on strike and president reagan said that was illegal action. it was illegal action. he sacked all of them. so they don't have a huge amount of leverage compared to other workers who might be in a paid dispute with their employer so really what they have to depend on is public opinion and that's

their safe guard is to hope that they're able to get the american public on side to place pressure on particularly the president and also congress to form some sort of agreement because they don't have that ability, themselves, to withdraw their labor as a part of some kind of strike action. >> this goes to my second to last question here, very quickly, the "wall street journal" reporting the white house office of management and budget is preparing for the possibility this could go through the end of february, well past the president's upcoming state of the union address set for january 29th. yet, democrats refusing to negotiate and senate republicans blocking these bills that could reopen government, do they have leverage to push these politicians to stop the games? >> well, some interesting polling has come out this week. you find that 31% of americans, only 31% support shutting down the federal government for a

border wall. but a majority of the republicans do. that's a key group to watch, but that number is now 58% so that's dropping. i think that's the key one for the president that he is keeping his mind on. around, so far, two-thirds of americans in that same poll say they haven't been personally affect. ed by the shutdown. as people stop seeing their tax rebates, they can't get their passports. they can't get their subsidized lunches to their children, food stamps and so on. as more and more programs start to run dry, i think that that will only not only affect, you know, the average american and republican voters. i think when a majority of republicans are stopped being a shutdown, then i think you could see the president having to change his mind. >> dr. richard johnson, with contacts and perspective. thank you. >> thank you.

>> we are following breaking news out of france, where authorities are responding to an explosion in central paris. police say the blast was called by a gas leak at a bakery saturday morning. and an official in paris tells cnn there were victims, so far it is unclear how many, police are saying the explosion is not terror related. cnn paris correspondent mellissa bell joins us now from the area where this happened. it must have been a terrifying saturday morning for people in that neighborhood, melissa. >> reporter: that's right. i think for anyone who would have been on what is normal lay busy street,ly show you behind me the scene now. it would have been pretty terrifying stuff. can you see there at the end of the street and natalie the fire services who have been battling the flames of the fire that followed the explosion for the last couple of hours, it now appears to be under the control. the plumes of smoke billowing out the last couple of hours

have now died down. but we have been hearing a lot more about precisely what happened here before that explosion took place. what eyewitnesses say, in fact, the fire services about an hour before the explosion took place. here's what one eyewitness who works in a hotel opposite the bakery in which that explosion took place had to say about what he saw. >> i feel a big pressure came out of me like smoke, so i guess i have time to get down and cover my head and cover everything. i didn't see nurse, i didn't say nothing. so i was in panic. so unfortunately, i know even with a lot of smoke, so i could repair, so i just run, ran, a lot of rocks. a lot of things came off the roof, fell off the roof. so i, so i was running, so i was

stepping on nothing and i was run out. fortunately, i get out of water. >> reporter: so it was an explosion of such force felt here at 9:00 a.m., i'm moving out of the way, because of the security the emergency services, they need to use this road as they make their way to and from the scene, natalie. as you heard from that eyewitness and we've heard from others, the explosion the strength of it the force of it was such for a fair distance around, there were windows broken people were pushed back by the sheer force of this explosion. fans's interior minister has been visiting the scene here even as firefighters struggled to get that fire under control. what the minister said, although there was no official to him, he expects there will be a lot of casualties. one of the questions is whether those firemen called out to the scene because of that gas leak were actually present and therefore injured by the time

the explosion took place. it could be they are amongst those wounded. there are a couple hundred firefighters at the scene behind me, a hundred policemen also trying to deal with the fallout from this explosion and remember, natalie. this is a saturday morning in paris. >> that means this is another day of yellow vest protest. so, of course the entire city was full of policemen and city ensthurg safety. this is an extra thing they need to deal with this morning. >> absolutely. the protesters there, they're in paris and all of a sudden this happened. it must have been quite a jolt that all of a sudden the story stwichd to this neighborhood. as you said, yes, people have been injured. but no reports of any deaths. is that right, melissa? >> that's right no reports of any deaths for the time being. we have had no initial toll. the prime minister expects there to be a lot of people wounded. we don't have physician or know

how critically those who were wounded are still. so that is one of the questions that we would be looking to have answered for the time being. though, certainly when it comes to the cues of this explosion, that is, of course, the first thing you wonder when you are here in paris given all the paris attacks this past year, this was an accidental gas leak. the force of it, really, for anyone in this fairly busy neighborhood of paris, it would be extremely shocking and loud and did cause a lot of damage. >> we appreciate you being there on the scene for us, mel will is sa bell. the shutdown showdown of 800,000 federale workers have gone without being paid for three weeks. how the government shutdown is spreading far beyond the affected workers. also, she went missing three months after her parents were killed. now, she is reunited with her relatives. we will tell you how she got

away from her kidnapper.

in the state of wisconsin there is relief after a girl's alive. >> jayme closs, it was the 13-year-old's escape to freedom led police to her suspected

kidnapper. for the story, here's cnn's ryan young. >> it's amazing the will of that 13-year-old girl to survive and escape. >> reporter: that's the county sheriff telling the world how jayme closs was found alive after she was kidnapped and her parents murdered in her home. 88 days disappeared and 70 miles away, she approached a couple walking their dog. >> when i first saw her, did she run away in did somebody drop her off here? she didn't have coats or gloves. when she told me who shechlts i figured she must have left in a hurry. >> reporter: that woman took jamie to a nearby home. >> i absolutely knew it was her. we seen her picture a million times around here. she looked exactly the same as she did in her picture. a little bit thinner, i would say. >> reporter: she said this is jayme closs, call 911. i was in absolute shock.

>> reporter: that calm led police to jayme closs and led them to arrest 21-year-old jake patterson, charged with her kidnapping and the murder of her parents. the authorities say there are no other suspects. >> in cases like this we often need a big break and it was jamie, herself that gave us that big break. >> one of the women said jamie shared details of her captor. >> she said this person would hide her when others are near or he has to leave the household. >> reporter: >> so many questions remain, how did she escape her captor, why did he target her in the first place? >> i can tell you the spubt planned his action and took proactive steps to hide his identity from law enforcement and the general public. >> reporter: for now the family is glad to have her home. >> it's awesome. we could not have done it who tut community. i was pulled over by our

sheriff, amazing. >> reporter: she called to say close was alive and taught at a local middle school. >> i don't really remember a whole lot about jake. i had him as a middle school student? science class. very quiet kid. smart. i don't really -- i didn't really keep up with him after he left northwood. >> reporter: after the aunt shared the release, jamie had been found. >> i can't wait to see you and hold you tight. because we're not going to let you go. >> the white house calls the latest "new york times" reporting absurd but there is concern given the fact the fbi launched an investigation concerned about the actions of the u.s. president, whether it was a national security risk. we'll have that story ahead. plus, the unintended consequences of the government shutdown, some furloughed workers are beginning to question their career choices as they face a fourth week without

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don't get mad. hey, batter, batter, [ crowd cheers ] like everyone, i lead a busy life. but i know the importance of having time to do what you love. at comcast we know our customers' time is valuable. that's why we have 2-hour appointment windows, including nights and weekends.

so you can do more of what you love. my name is tito, and i'm a tech-house manager at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. welcome back to viewers here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching cnn "newsroom." we thank you for it. i'm george howell. >> an explosion at a french bakery, saturdays blast was called by a gas leak. officials tell cnn there were victims. so far, it is unclear how many. a saudi woman who said she's led

abuse. she posting friday. she had been stranded in thailand about a week, fears deported back to the middle east. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo is in abu dhabi, to reassure allies the trump administration has a consistent foreign policy and as the reliable partner. his trip comes after president trump shocked decision to withdraw u.s. troops from syria that has many allies on edge. >> now to the latest on the russia probe here in the united states, the fbi wanted to know if the action, of a sitting u.s. president threatened national security. that according to "new york times," this story started coming out on friday. it reports the fbi investigated whether president trump was working on behalf of russia and against american interests. the newspaper says investigators were worried about mr. trump's behavior days after he fired fbi

director james comey. >> the white house was quick to respond, calling the allegations absurd and adding that comey was fired because he was quote a disgraced partisan hack. a bit earlier, cnn spoke with adam goldman, he exhe says

he did it on behalf of russia. within days of that, they've opened up this -- they've opened up this multi--tiered investigation, you know, has a criminal aspect and counter-intelligence aspect to it. >> it is important to point out it is still unclear if the special counsel is still pursuing that investigation. now, some 800,000 federal workers are left in the lurch. millions more americans also being impacted all because of the partial u.s. government shutdown. >> that is now the longest shutdown in the u.s. history. after three weeks without pay, many of those workers, they are angry and fed up they are demanding they be allowed to return to work for tear pay. even people who don't work for the government are feeling pain. people work, in food and gift

shops there won't get paid either. as one furloughed federal worker tells our jessica dean the feeling of helplessness is demoralizing. >> reporter: daily routines, like helping with homework, continue at the home joanna mcquellen shares with her husband and her paychecks have stopped. >> it makes you sick, it is, it's a pit in your stomach. it's worries. it's emotions and you know you don't know when this is all going to sort itself out. >> reporter: mcclellan works for the department of homeland security as an analyst and has been furloughed since the government closed december 21st. >> it's quite possible even if we open this week, i don't see a paycheck before the 1st of february. where is my rent going to come from? how will i pay my bills this month? >> reporter: her story is a familiar one, some 800,000 federal workers remain furloughed or working without pay. not just in washington, d.c. but in every state.

like stsa employees in portland, oregon. >> missing one paycheck will be a burden on you? >> oh, absolutely. >> o., my husband is in there making home-made bread it's cheaper than buying a loaf at the store. >> reporter: federal employees in ogden, utah. >> i have enough for one more mortgage payment and i got to go to carmax tomorrow and sell my car. >> reporter: there are federal contractors, who owns a small business ploying about two dozen people. many of the company's contracts are with the federal government. currently, those invoices aren't being paid. >> i'm considering do i forfeit my salary because in the past i've sacrificed the lamb. these are my employees, i've always felt an obligation to them so i would bite down, bear the bullet and just cover them. >> reporter: but this time, it's

different. grant sheppard is expecting her first baby in march. >> i finally thought i was in a position in march, where we were okay enough where i could have a child and surprise, it's truly something out of our control. >> reporter: out of their control, but impacting them deeply. >> you know we work hard at dhs, tsa, all these agency because we want to you know support our country. we're patriotic americans. we want to make sure our country is safe and all that but when we're told, oh, well you're unnecessary, just go ahead and go home. you will be furloughed. that's a big hit to your morale. it really makes you question, you know why am i doing this? >> so many stories. they're going to keep going as the government remains shut down. democrats are gearing up for the 2020 presidential race and several are already throwing their names in the ring.

house representative gabbert said she has decided to run. she an iraq war veteran and serves on the house foreign affairs committee. >> she joins a pool of democrats considering runs, hike former housing secretary julian castro. and the former mayor of new york, michael bloomberg, who says if he runs, he will pay for his entire campaign by himself. here in the u.s., a family of an arizona woman is dealing with a horrific situation. the woman has been living in a long-term care facility since 1992. >> she is in a vegetative state and requires round the clock care. she suddenly went into labor last month and gave birth to a baby. cnn's sara sidner has more from phoenix, arizona. >> reporter: there are stunning new details in this case. a woman in a vegetative state becomes pregnant, has a baby. it turns out we are now hearing

the 911 call from the staff at the health care center that we have learned in court documents, she has been in for some 27 years. what we are hearing on this 911 call gives a lot of details about what the staff did or did not know when it comes to this woman and her pregnancy. >> oh the baby is turning blue. the baby is turning blue! >> what's the emergency? >> someone just had, one of the patients just had a baby. she had no idea she was pregnant. the baby is turning blue. we need someone now. we are able to get baby out. is the baby breathing? is the baby breathing? the baby is not breathing. the baby is blue. >> are they doing cpr? >> are they doing cpr? they are doing cpr on the baby. >> mom is doing well? >> mo him is doing well. we had no idea this person was pregnant. we had no idea she was pregnant. >> i understand. does she know how far apy long

she was or anything? >> we have no idea. this is a complete surprise. we were not expecting this they want you to guys to still do compressions. oh, the baby is breathing. oh my god, thank god. >> so you hear a staffer saying she did not know this woman was pregnant. the question is, is that the case for all the people that were taking care of this woman in a vegetative state who became pregnant, obviously, they are calling this a sexual assault investigation. there are a lot of questions here as to why this affiliate did not know this woman was pregnant. we know the baby did survive. the mother and baby were in the hospital. they were recovering there in the hospital after you heard that distressing 911 call. we also know that she got a woman's wellness exam back in april of 2018 and had the baby december 29th of 2018. so she would have been pregnant at the time she got that exam if

she was going to full term. which means they must not have done any pregnancy test at the time. she was likely not showing. but there is a big question as to how the staff did not realize this woman in a vegetative state was actually pregnant. therefore, maybe she didn't get prenatal care either. a lot of questions and there are people here who are worried about who may have done this. was it a staffer? a stranger? a family member? a visitor? they simply don't know. police have already gone court order to get dna samples from all the male staffers who work at the facility. sara sidner, cnn, phoenix. >> wow. we'll be right back. tremfya® can help adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis get clearer. and stay clearer. most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis.

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the head of japan's olympic committee is being investigated by french judges for alleged corruption. reports say the investigation involve a suspicious payment of about $2 million. >> it occurred around the time tokyo won its bid for the 2020 summer games. he denies any wrong-doing. a journalist is following this live. what is the late st we have heard and where do things go from here? >> well, it's under formal investigation from french authorities, which means that he could be implicated or they could drop the case. so it could go either way still in the french legal system. we know that he is going to hold a news conference on tuesday, next tuesday, but he has already denied that he has done any

wrong doing or that the japanese olympic committee was involved in any kind of corruption he says he took part in a hearing last month in france involving a probe into a former ioc member and is awaiting a trial in france. his son is also under investigation from the french authorities. but it seems to be an extension of an investigation that started two years ago, more than two years ago in 2016, regarding payments that japan made to a company in singapore that had very close ties to the family. the blogsphere is a light with comparisons and parallels with carlos ghosn, who is ahead of the mitsubishi alliance and is if jail in japan, has been in jail the last seven weeks plus on allegations of financial wrong-doing. both of them are luminarys in

the field. mr. takada is as blue blood as they come. he's the second cousin to the current emperor. he's the great grandson of a form early emperor. he has been involved in the olympics ever since he, himself, was an olympian back in the 1970s. regardless of the parallels between him and carlos ghosn. one thing is for sure, this is yet another controversy to dog the japanese olympic committee. there were concerns about the negotiations with the architect, late architect regarding the stadium. it was blowing out of control. then there were plagiarism allegations about the mascot as well, so it's certainly casting a pall over japan as they gear up for the 2020 olympics. >> people are drawing similarities. thank you for the reporting.

we are going to take you to missouri next because look at this. hundreds of cars and trucks stranded for hours as the winter storm pummels the areas and it is moving east. eric van dam joins us with more about it next.

the wint er storm is packin more damage and could do more damage with cities inundated with the stuff. st. louis, missouri has received a blanket. eric van dam is covering this story. it's heading east and getting more powerful. >> it's center over st. louis right now. but the mid-atlantic states they're going to be feeling the impact from the storm system as well. that's not just for heavy snow. it's across the western portion of north carolina into virginia. look at the warnings, here's the

evolution of a storm. feeding in moisture from the gulf of mexico. zero degrees selcelsius interst 70. we are all very familiar with that. the rest of the country is getting hammered. >> that will make it expected as upwards of a foot of snow is possible and into illinois. totals going forward today. st. louis, that area has already woken up to 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground. look at those giant flakes as well. reports of snow over an inch piling up quickly. >> that is going to cause some

travel concerns. let's get to the graphics. could this potentially break an all time record? it will be tough. this storm is moving east to asheville. i had the potential for ice. three-quarters of an inch in greensboro and asheville. so those high elevation, blue ridge mountains, et cetera. >> it will be messy. >> it will. take care. >> derrick, thank you. we want to take you to the moon. china's national space agency released these stunning 360 degree panoramic photos showing the far side of the moon. >> it recently made the first ever soft landing on that side of the moon that always faces away from the earth. >> thanks for watching cnn "newsroom." >> i'm george howell.

>> that erin burnett "out front" is ahead. thanks for being withus. i am a family man.

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