good morning, welcome to "today." on this saturday morning, you can see we redecorated studio 1a. i'm lester holt in central park. and erica hill warm inside studstud studda studio 1a. >> forecasters warning us this storm would be a powerhouse. right on target. not very far from studio 1a, a look at times square. crews hard at work cleaning up the snow, and also new jersey, strong winds and surf on the jersey shore. i have to point out, lester, when we first came in and you saw the shot of rockefeller plaza and you didn't see snow, that is because they have been up since the wee hours clearing the white stuff it looks like there was no storm outside

studstud studda studio 1a. >> one person reported dead after a traffic in upstate new york. the snowfall totals across the northeast are substantial. in parts of connecticut, nearly 3 feet has fallen. boston and portland, maine, reported snowfalls of up to 25 inches. here in new york city, up to about a foot of snow. power has been knocked out to nearly 650,000 customers, most of them in massachusetts and rhode island, and more than 1,800 flights canceled so far, that on top of the 3,600 that never took off on friday in advance of the pieces of storm, erica. >> you can understand why this storm is giving snow plows, snow blowers and shovels a real run for their money. also adding to the wintry mess here on the ground, hurricane-force winds in some areas, creating blizzard conditions. out on long island, up to 100 cars stuck for hours, in what is normally a busy expressway. talk about the size of the

storm. look at this. it really gives you a sense, as it spreads across the region. these are scenes from states, making its way up the east coast. all that you can make up from the eastern portion of the united states is the tip of florida there, lester. >> yes this is a massive one. coverage across the northeast this morning. reporters standing by in hartford and boston. let me show you what's going on in central park. in many ways, this belies the danger of the storm. the beauty of the storm. the place that will bring out lots of folks to bring their kids and dogs to play in the snow. midtown manhattan just behind me. the city is a -- the city of manhattan is virtually fine. the roads are fairly clear, done a good job on getting the roads open, you can get around and, fortunately, of course, this is not a work day. in and out of the city, that's a different situation. in new york, 12 counties have been declared under states of emergencies this morning. as they try to get those roads

in and out of the metropolitan area open. meantime, when conditions quickly deteriorated on long island on friday, dozens of drivers became stranded on the long island expressway. we have a sergeant from the suffolk county highway patrol. >> good morning, sir. >> was the l.i.e. actually closed and these are folks that drove on, ignored the closed signs. >> the signs, it's closed, by recommendation for emergency vehicles only. mother nature is closing it with at least a foot or more of this heavy, thick snow that's just stopping vehicles in their tracks. >> any folks actually left overnight? stranded in cars overnight? >> we were able to at least remove the persons from the vehicles, and the vehicles be left behind, but we did a good job. we have enough four-wheel drive

vehicles where we can get up and down. we've been able to move up and down the roadways and remove any people from the cars. >> and we should point out, are you pretty far east of where i am here in new york city. is it still snowing there? still getting people stranded even as we speak? >> yes, yes. every time we pass somebody new is sideways across the road, blocking the -- the one passable lane. snow still coming down out here. >> are you having trouble getting any of these folks? >> it's 20 mile an hour with four-wheel drive truck to check these miles and miles of roadway. >> and i would assume these folks are calling in on their cell phones. so they always know exactly where they are? able to direct them to help? >> no. they usually don't know where they are. sometimes they -- they just tried to dig themselves out.

but blocked the whole road, and then they cause a line of four-wheel drive cars that might be trying to get by. it's that type of situation. >> all right. well, let's hope this conversation serves as a warning to anyone else before they head out in their car. sergeant vincent irwin, we appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you, sir. >> connecticut, another area directly in the path. janel klein in hartford this morning. what's it look like there? >> people waking up to more than three feet of snow with drifts in some places up to seven feet high. made travel almost impossible in the region with visibility less than a mile in some places so bad that governor dan malloy has shut down all of the roads state wide. saying it is too dangerous for people to be out. emergency vehicles having trouble getting through to people who are stranded or having health concerns this is a serious storm. that comes after travel was shut down in the air, on buses, and

on trains yesterday. most of the region coming to a standstill as this storm moves in. and people at home, having a lot of -- a lot easier time. power has been a big concern for many people. in fact, places in connecticut have 80% of customers without power. thousands of people in the dark this morning and repairs are going to be really tough as high winds continue. there are extra repair people coming from out of state. lester, travel so difficult, could be difficult for them to get to the lines. several days of power outages expected in connecticut. >> all right. not great news. janel klein, thank you. let's head to boston, al roker in copley square. good to see up. >> good to see you, lester. copley square, just behind me, 23 20, 24 inches of snow back in

the square. we take a look at video from overnight, folks really hunkering down, taking warnings seriously. deval patrick ordering all roads closed in the state at 4:00. some people criticized him. it looks like that was a pretty good idea that others might have wanted to follow earlier in the day. folks walking around, but as this system really started to wind up, causing big problems. rhode island, particularly hard hit. last night during "nightly news," reports of power outages already beginning and they continue again through the day today it will be -- they have been warned they could be without power for at least seven days. let's show where you this system is right now. it is getting itself together, winding up, and it is going to be still a powerful system that is making its way now offshore. the snow ending back through new jersey. western new york, but you can still see the powerful

circulation, boston, those deeper areas of blue, snow still falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour. we look to the future and see the system moving away, it won't be until late tonight when most of the areas will clear of all this snow. that is going to still leave another additional two to six inches, maybe eight inches of snow along the -- the new england coastline, inland, we'll see a little less. another maybe four to six inches of snow. and back to the west, even further, areas in white, about one to three inches, the winds will also be a big problem over the next 24 hours. maintaining winds, they will be looking at 25 to 30-mile-per-hour sustained winds. wind gusts continue late tonight to the 30 and 40-mile-per-hour plus range. lots of blowing and drifting snow. roads a big problem.

passable roads, and the winds will continue to whip and drive that snow and keep visibilities down. lester. >> all right, al. thank you very much. fortunately, the snow has stopped here in new york city. we've gotten a break, now the cleanup. let's go back to studio 1a and cleanup. this california, authorities are still frantically searching for the former los angeles cop accused of going on a killing spree. new photos of christopher dorner, taken just days ago. police hope they might spark a fresh lead in a trail that appears to have gone cold. the last trace of the former lapd police officer, his car found burned out on big bear mountain. police are combing homes and woods for any signs of dorner. so far, nothing. police remain on high alert. dorner accused of killing two people in irvine on sunday and shooting three police officers,

killing one, in riverside county on thursday. he posted a manifesto on facebook, and killings appear to be revenge for being fired from the lapd in 2008. william bratton, and 2002 to 2009. nice to have you with us, bill. as you look at this, things appear to have gone cold. burned out car was found out thursday. could that have been a decoy? >> my understanding is that the car got stuck, in the mud up there. so there was some thought that it was a diversion, to draw our attention 80 miles outside of los angeles, but there is some speculation he actually got stuck there, unintended. >> that's why it ended up there and burnt there. the trail has at this point seemingly gone cold. no sense of where he may be, and you played it out to me earlier this morning this is an important date today. >> this is the fourth anniversary of his dismissal

from the lapd. four years ago he received his discharge papers, if you will. dismissal papers on february 9, 2009, a day of significance certainly in his mind in as much his grievances all seem to center on his dismissal. >> this manifesto is helpful to officers. >> we have looked at three different sets of profiles the last two days and pretty universal that the triggering event in his life was, in fact, this dismissal. he is an injustice collector. that's a term they use. he collects injustices, never lets them go, and evidently they finally reached a tipping point that led to the series of violent acts. >> there is a picture of the two of you together. he sent a challenge coin with multiple bullet holes in it, with a note that said thanks to no thanks. when you knew it was the coin

that apparently had come from you, what did you think? >> it's disturbing. another element. that coin was given as a sign of respect and good luck as he was shipping off to iraq and to have it it sent back in that condition, not quite what you would expect. >> real quickly. you said he collects injustices is this the type of person will turn himself in or give up? >> the profilers doubt that very much. the last thing he would want is to be arrested by the lapd and to a perp walk. that would be the last injustice or certainly the most significant one. >> thank you to have you. we want to get a check of the morning's other top stories with jenna wolfe. former penn state coach joe paterno's wife is speaking out in defense of her husband, fighting back against accusations that followed in the wake of the jerry sandusky

scandal. her letter comes as the family prepares to release its own report tomorrow morning. the tour bus company involved in a deadly crash in southern california is not running this morning. federal regulators shut it down, saying they are not safe to be on the road right now. this days after one bus slammed into several vehicles and crashed, leaving eight people dead and dozens injured. regulators found safety violations on other buses that the company owned. farewell, not good-bye. secretary of defense leon panetta, president obama praised him for helping to take osama bin laden. he has not announced when his last day in office will be. it's expected to be late last week. and just because she's not a lion, she can't brag. the proud parent of a little lion king brought the littlest one out for all to see.

look at my baby, isn't he adorable? the first time the three cubs were able to get out since they were born two weeks ago at an ecological preserve two weeks ago. said the little lion, hakuna mutata. a little "lion king." two cycling sic siblings just l. wouldn't it be great if one of these storms didn't live up to the hype? insane what's going on in new england. not it. another storm on the map this one right across the midwest, already blizzard warnings for nebraska, northward to the dakotas and portions of minnesota. may not be millions of people in the path of that one, significant travel impacts for

friends in the midwest. and watch out in texas, severe astorino. and good saturday morning to you. most of the bay area waking up in the 30s. very chilly, mostly clear for right now and we should stay that way for the afternoon. high pressure building in. scattered showers from thursday and friday. the weekend starting off with highs mostly in the upper 50s today. maybe close to 60 around santa rosa and oakland. another chilly start for tomorrow morning and temperatures slowly climbing. more weather in your seven-day forecast. of course, more updates on the blizzard of 2013 coming up. president obama gearing up for another fight with congressional lawmakers, this one over impending sweeping cuts that could have an impact on you. >> senior administration officials say president obama

will spend the weekend working on his state of the union address. a speech that will focus largely on the economy and the middle class. this as washington gets closer to yet another potential economic crisis. amy is a high school counselor from north glen, colorado. she has traveled to washington with other educators with a message for congress. >> that the time when we are looking at ways to keep our schools safer, these across the board cuts would impact those positions and those people who keep our schools safe. >> reporter: she's talking about the so-called sequester. $85 billion in spending cuts set to kick in march 1st, meant to be so egregious that lawmakers have to come to an agreement on deficit reduction. that has not happened and time is running out. >> if the sequester goes forward, thousands that work in national security, education, or clean energy are likely to be laid off. >> reporter: the cuts would amount to a 13% reduction to the

military. >> this will badly damage our national defense and compromise our ability to respond to crises in a dangerous world. >> reporter: in washington, it's the same old sticking point, with the president insisting that the deal include new taxes. >> we sure as heck should be willing to ask, those of us who are luckiest in this society, to close a few loopholes and deductions that the average american doesn't get. >> reporter: republicans say it's time to reform entitlements and cut spending. >> there is a better way to lower the deficit. but americans do not -- do not support sacrificing real spending cuts for more tax hikes. >> i think the chances of a deal to avert the sequester are less than 50/50, you are looking at a short time frame between now and march 1st to deal with a very complex number and a large set of the potential cuts to the federal budget. >> reporter: for millions of americans, the deadline isn't about party politics, it's about

preserving what is important. >> come together to fund a solution so we don't have cuts that will harm our students. >> reporter: now, while the president has a quiet day, the first lady travels to chicago to attend the funeral of hadiya pendleton, the teen that performed at president obama's inauguration and shot to death several days later. erica. >> kristin welker at the white house, thank you. once again, here is lester. an amazing feat of airmanship and an incredible determination of grit. chances are, you haven't heard about it. 14 months, on a flight from newark to warsaw, carrying many american passengers, an airline pilot faced potential disaster. the plane's wheels were stuck. he saved everyone on board and he is being hailed as the polish sully. in the skies over warsaw, locked polish airlines flight 16 was seconds away from attempting an

emergency landing like no other. captain tad brona had spent the last hour and 15 minutes trying to lower its landing gear. all its wheels and braking system, to no avail. he had no choice but to belly flop the plane with its engines acting like the rudders on a sled, to a concrete runway. in the final moments, the passengers were ready for the worst. like the other passengers, greg cohen had his head between his legs. >> what were the final instructions before landing? >> they had us get in ready position, telling to us brace for impact. praying to god that everything will be okay. >> reporter: and then it happened. flight 16 touches down at more than 140 miles an hour.

this is the moment of contact on the runway shot from inside the cabin. >> and then we touched down. and the impact never came. you know, i was waiting for this like car crash to be in an accident. >> no bounce? >> to be honest, it was one of the smoother landings i've ever had. >> reporter: incredibly, a smooth touchdown, a miracle in warsaw. >> the plane came to a stop. and everybody roared with applause. but it didn't last more than two seconds, and you had the flight attendant immediately stand up and just yell get off this plane now! >> suddenly, there was another danger. there was smoke and a fire on the right side engine. >> let's go, let's go! ah! >> reporter: passengers rushed

for the emergency slides, and a few fell as they tried to run away. but emergency crews were able to douse the flames and the fuel leaked quickly. the plane didn't explode. and except for a few scrapes and bruises, everyone got off unharmed. >> i immediately thought our captain was poland's version of sully. >> reporter: same incredible amount of airmanship. >> yes. >> reporter: what would you like to say to the captain? >> i would like to say thank you if it wasn't for him, maybe 230-plus people wouldn't be here right now, and i'm forever indebted to him for that. >> captain brona has been honored for his heroism in the united states. still to come, latest on the massive blizzard blanketing the northeast. first this is "today" on nbc. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals.

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your travel plans hello, everybody. good morning on this saturday morning. giving you a live look at the bay bridge from our camera atop san bernardino mountain. a little shake to the camera. alongside meteorologist rob mayeda, yeah, it's chilly. >> winds in the hills you're

seeing. 42. a little more wind in san francisco and san mateo. san jose, 35 degrees. 33 in concord and 39 in napa and a slight breeze keeping fairfield up in the 40s this morning. mostly clear skies. nice sunshine, but the problem is we had that cold air sweep in the last couple of days. so our afternoon temperatures, going to be in the mid to upper 50s today. tomorrow a frosty morning once again, but look at numbers through the middle part of the seven-day forecast. highs, mid-60s. dry weather for the seven-day forecast. >> i can get cruised to that. thanks, rob. san jose man could spend's rest of his life in prison for an alleged involvement in a home-grown terror plot foiled by the fbi. authorities say agents arrested 28-year-old matthew amazea near a bank of america branch in oakland after he tried to detonate what he believed to be a car bomb, but that bomb never went off. turns out his co-conspirator was an undercover agent.

officials say that agent met with him several times. according to the fbi's own affidavit, it was the feds who prepared the chemicals to simulate an explosive mixture and constructed the trigger device with a cell phone purchased by amazea. he finished putting the car bomb together under the supervision of the agent. >> we have really strict guidelines and restrictions about all undercover operations. >> all of the key issues in the case were likely recorded. certainly there were wiretaps involved. because of that issue of entrapment. you don't want to have the government, in effect, committing the crime. >> the fbi says amazea expressed support for the taliban. he hoped the bombing would be blamed on anti-government activists and somehow spark a civil war. she expected back in court on wednesday. a parolee who managed to escape from san jose police on wednesday is back in custody this morning.

officers found anthony sanchez sleeping inside a stolen truck in san jose about 11:30 thursday night. police say he escaped from officers after being arrested on hillsdale avenue on wednesday. he was able to slip his handcuffs to the front of his body and then took off in a police van. he is now facing auto theft, burglary and drug charges. coming up this morning on "today in the bay," giants fans, are you ready? baseball season almost here, and later this morning, thousands talking thousands, of people will flood the field at at&t park for giants fanfest. one giant star fans may not recognize. that story, plus, more of the morning's top stories coming up on "today in the bay" at 7:00. another local news update for you in just about 30 minutes. so you can see us again at 5:56. for now, it's back to the "today" show.

back on this saturday morning. february 9, 2013. a live picture for you of revere beach, massachusetts. in the boston area. one of the areas hardest hit in this blizzard. and over in boston, up to two feet of snow. has fallen in parts of the city. i'm erica hill in studio 1a.

lester holt is braving the elements in new york's central park. the worst is over here, but a long day and a long weekend of cleanup for so many people. >> down to just a few flurries here. but this has dumped three feet of snow in parts of new england. bringing hurricane-force wind gusts, power knocked out to more than a half million homes and businesses. up to 100 cars stranded on the long island expressway. and we're told cars still getting stuck out there, as it continues to snow. much more from across the region throughout the morning, erica. >> lester, thanks. you may have seen the video earlier in the week. the teenager mouthing off to a florida judge. ends up with 30 days behind bars. on friday, she had the chance -- sort of a second chance you might say in court. how that went down. and we'll catch up with nelson mandela's granddaughters, who are starring in a new reality show. but, first, lester, back to the

storm. >> let's start the half hour out with the blizzard blanketing the northeast. al roker up in boston this morning, al, safe to say you are getting hammered up there. the weather is getting hammered. >> yeah, exactly many wasn't much to do but to sit in a bar last night, lester, because it was pretty bad. copley square, you can see right now, again, about two feet of snow back here, but even here, there is over a foot. we're actually kind of packed down, on top of it, but the thing -- the good thing about this was we were able to predict this storm fairly early. we were talking about this storm back on monday. and we were going to watch two areas of low pressure come together. and over the last two days, we have animation to show you how these came together. a clipper system in the north, that was bringing the cold air, storm system down to the south had all of the energy and the moisture, and over the last 48 hours, they have performed to

cue, right to the script. transferred the energy from the clipper to the storm offshore, classic nor'easter and has kind of become -- kind of funny, art -- life imitating art, during the finale of "30 rock," i had a cameo and called it a snow-icane. this is like a hurricane, except with snow. wrapped itself together. you can see all of the snow, getting itself together. look at the snow fall accumulations. we are expecting at least another 8 inches of snow along the coastline of massachusetts, on into new england, and we also expect another 4 to 6 inches of snow to the west of that. we have a lot of snow to talk about still and with winds gusting at hurricane force, we'll have a lot of problems over the next 24 hours, with blowing and drifting and wherever the power outages are existing right now, they will have to stay that way, because with these winds, they can't get

the cherry pickers up to get those guys up and the women up to fix the lines, so it is going to be a situation that is going to remain fluid, remain changing, but also going to cause problems for people trying to get their power back. lester. >> you say another eight inches on top of what have you there rig right now? >> absolutely. snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. we expect to be in this another three to four hours. so it -- some people say you are hyping this storm. the fact is, this storm lived up to all of the potential we thought it would have. >> yeah, amazing watching those two come together. al, thanks, hang in there. let's go back to erica. >> bill karins in for dylan with a check of the national forecast. >> the pictures look pretty. but a whole other story developing for the half million that don't have power. they are on social media and

getting angry. they don't have information, roads have not been plowed yet and they are realizing they will be stuck in their homes tonight. >> and part of the reason, frankly, it's not safe for people to get out and fix things. >> my greatest concern is for the elderly. elderly stuck in their homes with single-digit temperatures, people have to get to a safe place. >> if you live within walking distance and can get there safe, check on your neighbors. >> absolutely. blizzard warnings from outside of rapid city to fargo minneapolis, you look to be on the southern portion of this. may just get freezing rain. bull's-eye as far as high winds and worst travel, across the state of south dakota, interstate 70 through nebraska and 90 up through the dakotas, another big storm heading for the central plains and east coast for the next five days, calm weather and we'll try to melt a little bit of the sn

s. and we've got a cold morning here but snow-free. mostly cloud-free. high pressure builds in. the system that brought the showers and snow heading off towards the rockies. 30s and 40s this morning. mid-50s around lunchtime topping out in the upper 50s to near 60 today. tomorrow, kind of the same thing. a frosty start but a slightly warmer finish, and speaking of warm, how about mid to upper 60s by the middle part of the week. >> now back to central park and lester holt. >> bill, thanks. earlier this morning i had a chance to speak to the granddaughters of the former president of south africa, nelson mandela. they are starring in "being mandela" a reality show. i asked them why they decided to appear in a reality show? >> we wanted to give viewers an insight to our family. we come from such a famous family, the mandela family and we thought it might be a good

idea to showcase our daily lives, our personal aspirations and because we're a family, a bit of conflict in there. and we wanted to showcase south africa, our beautiful country. >> how is your grandfather? >> is he doing great. we saw him before we came. we spent some time with him, we wanted to say good-bye because we were coming. we see him all the time, good spirits and so happy to be honored by family. >> that's great. one thing you talk about the naming traditions in the mandela family. i want to show a clip if i can and talk to you more about that. here it is. >> okay. >> my mother winnie came by to the naming of my son. she eventually is the one responsible for naming everyone in the family. >> quite a procedure, my grandmother spends countless days coming up with lists of names, and our family all our names start with a z. >> will we see our grandmother a

lot? >> yes, she is with us every single day. we see her a lot. she makes a joke and said we should pay her to do the show. >> your grand daddy, call him big grandpa. >> the great grandkids call him big grandpa. >> you won't see him, but you will hear us talk about him. >> do you watch reality tv? >> no, he doesn't. our grandfather spes a lot of time at home and we go in and out of house, he reads the papers a lot. but, no, he doesn't watch reality tv, this will be the first he gets to see. we're excited about that. >> one of the places i found most fascinating, robin island prison, where your grandfather was held. you went there for the first time and had a deeply emotional experience. tell me about it. >> when i got there, one of the guards who looked after my gauad

told me that he smothered me in as an infant. i was eight months old. he took the blankets, covered my face, and he gave me a hug and a kiss and he took me out. and it was so emotional. just to hear, you know, that i was the first one he saw, and, you know, what a special moment that was for him. >> is some of this really kind of discovering your own history as a family? you know the history, but to have the cameras following you, are you getting a different picture of your upbringing? >> many elements of that on the show. you know, we go to robin island for the first time. something we haven't done for 23 years. we have tried countless times, but for some reason it hasn't happened before. it's great we get to share it with so many people it will teach us about our family, our culture and history. >> as i told you when i sat down, an amazing country. we appreciate you coming here and sharing it with us. congratulations on the show. >> thank you.

>> thank you for being here. catch the new show "being mandela" at 9:00, 8:00 central on kozi-tv. big business. the companies that thrive during and after a huge storm. and what to do if your travel plans have been turned upside down by this massive snowfall. but, first, these messages. my name is marjorie reyes, and i'm a chief warrant officer. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood the details

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this morning on "today's travel," stranded by the storm. as the blizzard continues to pound the northeast, you or maybe someone you love may be among the thousands who have plans disrupted. thousands of flights canceled friday. more than 3,000 on friday. more than 1,800 canceled today. the big question, if you were supposed to be on one of those flights, what did you do? amy farley is the news editor and writes the trip doctor column for "travel and leisure" magazine. nice to have you with us. almost as soon as they said we're canceling flights at the airlines, a majority said, hey, we're also waiving all the fees to rebook or if you need to cancel. >> right. >> but when you do need to rebook, they urged everybody to go line. is that the best way to do it? >> you know, i think honestly, exercise every option available to you. we say get on line, get in line if you're at the airport. get on the phone. try every method possible. if you don't want to bother at all and your flight plans are totally flexible, they will often just rebook you automatically. so sometimes you can save

yourself the headache. we say try every method possible. >> try every method, including sitting back and letting them do it. in terms of canceling because for some maybe it was a business trip and now there's no longer a reason to go, are there full refunds being offered? >> you know, that goes airline by airline. i know that jetblue, usairways, and united are the most flexible in offering full refunds or travel vouchers. some other airlines, it's a case-by-case basis. get this touch with your airline. they ought to -- if the whole purpose of the trip is a moot point, they should help you out. >> you mention getting in touch and trying every option possible. at the airport, get on line, try to get on line. and twitter, social media has been effective in these situations. >> i have to say after sandy and now airlines are good on twitter. they're really responsive. often it's a great way to get more information. i'm not sure they can always help with the specific problem. it's worth reaching out on twitter. >> for a lot of people, saturday

seems to be the lightest travel day of the week. in terms of airlines rebooting, it gives them a little more time. how are sunday and monday looking? >> there aren't that many cancelations yet for sunday. i heard from jetblue that they hope to get operations going at jfk this afternoon and at boston logan this evening at 6:00. obviously the snow's still coming in boston, so that's wait and see. but they're optimistic. frankly, they've had practice in recent years at getting their flights, unscrambling the mess that the storms create. you know, i think there's reason to be optimistic for tomorrow. >> that's good. i like the glass half full. when it comes to -- we talk about airlines and air travel. a lot of times people would have had hotels booked, as well. are we seeing a similar response in terms of refunds? >> they're being more flexible. i mean, after sandy we were expecting the same sort of response right now from hotels. frankly, if they're in affected areas, they're taking in stranded passengers. so they have a reason to let you out of your booking. >> because they will fill some

rooms. if you are stranded, the best way to find a hotel is to go on line? >> they'll give you a great rate for a room nearby you. >> nice to see you. thank you very much. ahead, the teenager who flipped off a judge back in court. is he giving her a second chance? [ store ] jared the galleria of jewelry here. see this larger-than-life diamond? it's there because i'm a larger-than-life jewelry store. dan here needs a "julie, please spend the rest of your life with me" ring. well, my selection is truly unique including over ten-thousand loose diamonds, the tolkowsky ideal cut and exclusive leo artisan. my expert staff guided dan to the perfect ring... which he then delivered... with all of his heart. ♪ yes. and that's why he went to jared. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. robitussin®. don't suffer the coughequences™.

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♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, rich dark chocolate, toasted oats. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious. ♪ she said, "i haven't done my taxes for a few years." call. what's a few? she said, "i think it's eight." she showed up with four file boxes of paperwork. "here, take my stuff and figure it out." i will do that for you. it's a mental challenge. it's a puzzle. but getting you the maximum refund- that's what i'm here for. bring it on. you may have seen this video this week of a teenager in south florida flipping off and cursing at a judge in court.

left a lot of people with their mouths hanging open. the judge threw the book at her. by friday, she had a chance to make amends. so how did it go? here's the story from charles hadlock. >> reporter: a much more contrite penelope soto was back in court on friday, along with her family and her attorney to ask that the felony contempt of court charges be dropped. >> my behavior was very irrational. and i apologize not only to the court and you but to my family. >> reporter: it was a far different demeanor than soto's first appearance in court last monday on charges of possession of xanax. soto, who is 18, had no prior run-ins with the law. so dade county circuit judge jose rodriguez shamot set bail at $5,000. >> bye-bye. >> adios. >> reporter: but adios was too smart alecy for the judge. >> come back.

>> reporter: the judge doubled the bail. >> bail is $10,000. >> are you serious? >> i am serious. adios. >> reporter: that's when soto flipped the bird. >> come back again. >> reporter: that's when the judge -- >> come back again. >> reporter: piled on the charges. >> i believe i heard you saying to -- >> yes, i did. i'm not going -- >> i believe you -- but say [ bleep ]? >> actually -- >> did you say that? >> yes, sir, i did. >> but say that? i find you in criminal contempt. 30 days in the county jail. >> that's fine. >> when there's outrageous disrespect, the judge has to do something meaningful. here it was jail time. >> reporter: after four nights in jail, soto apologized to the judge and explained cha that she was still high on -- explained that she was still high on alcohol and xanax when she appeared in court and volunteered to attend a drug rehabilitation clinic. a much more forgiving judge vacated soto's 30-day sentence and even suggested that if she kicks her drug habit, she might

have a bright future. >> want to be full health -- >> reporter: maybe, but she'll have to learn how to watch her tongue first. for "today," charles hadlock, nbc news. ahead, the latest on the heavy snowfall across the northeast and when these blizzard-like conditions are expected to stop. first, this is "today" on nbc. here you go little man. [ humming ] [ babbling ] the cheerios bandit got you again? [ both laugh ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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and makes you less irritable. quit one cigarette at a time. a live look. that is sfo, san francisco international airport, often in the distance. where, unfortunately, a lot of people are stranded because of the blizzard that's barrelling down on the east coast. we'll have an update for you on the forecast on the east coast. but let's check the forecast

here in the bay area. >> boston airport and long island's airport still shut down until about lunchtime our time today. that's a problem at our local airports. heading to the east coast this morning, you may find patchy frost in a few areas n concord down to 31 degrees. 39 in oakland. fan fest, nice numbers in the low to mid-50s this afternoon once the sun comes up. mostly clear skies. high pressure building in from the west will take the showers we had over the last couple of days and push them off to the east. near 57 in san francisco and san jose today. closer to 60 today and santa rosa. you notice the dry weather. very unusually dry for this time of the year but the temperatures looking nice, mid to upper 60s by the middle part of the week. >> i have a friend at at&t park. he says everyone is out there with their blankets on. thanks much. here's a look at stoersz

we're following today. a 13-year-old girl's naked body was found in fairfield park. this man, anthony jones, killed her. he was arrested yesterday morning after a five-day investigation by the fbi and an extensive search of the barber shop where he works and also a search of his home in fairfield. police say they started watching jones when the teenager, janelle conway allen disappeared last week but they won't say why he was a suspect. the county share's office says the fair mooeld man is charged with kidnapping, rape and lewd acts with a child. meanwhile, hundreds of people from fairfield gathered at allen whit park last night to remember janelle. she was a foster child who went missing from her home last thursday. fighting back tears, her biological father says his daughter was full of life and loved sports. their last visit was about a year ago. >> i love her with all my heart.

i stay with her kids and the kids and crystal for about a week. and, you know, we played. >> fun-loving little girl that loved to dance, sing, write poetry. just play. that's how i remember her, running the streets on her bicycle. >> that's tough. funeral services are expected to be held next week. as for her suspected killer, jones is due in court on wednesday. a parolee who managed to escape from san jose police on wednesday is back in custody wednesday. officers found anthony sanchez sleeping inside a stolen truck in south san jose around 11:30 thursday night. they say he escaped from officers after being arrested on hillsdale afternoon on wednesday. he was able to slip his handcuffs to the front of his body and then took off in a police van. he's facing auto theft, burglary and drug charges. we'll be back in 30 minutes for the next update at 6:26. enjoy the "today" show.

welcome back to "today," saturday morning, the 9th day of february, 2013. that massive blizzard still pounding the northeast this morning with hurricane-force wind gusts in some spots. huge amounts of snow and mass power outages. that's the scene in boston right now. they're still expecting a lot

more. i'm lester holt reporting from new york city's central park. my colleague, erica hill, standing by back in studio 1a. good morning again. >> hey, lester. good morning again to you. it looks beautiful there in central park. >> yeah. beautiful it is. >> beautiful it is. although we know, of course, it can be dangerous elsewhere. this is what it looks like right now in hartford, connecticut. i think we have that picture for you. the city buried in snow. you can barely make out the car underneath there. >> yeah. and here in new york, at least in manhattan, the roads are fairly clear. we've got about maybe up to a foot in new york city. but it's tough when you get out of town. here's the latest. at least one person is reported dead after a traffic accident in upstate new york. the snowfall totals across the northeast are substantial in parts of connecticut. more than three feet have fallen. it's up to 25 inches in boston and portland, maine. here in new york city, as we said, up to a foot. power's been knocked out to

nearly 650,000 customers. most of them in massachusetts and rhode island. and more than 1,800 flights have been canceled so far. that's on top of the 3,600 that never took off on friday. >> yeah. busy day with all of those weather-related incidents. there is a lot of other news happening on this saturday, as well. first up, the search intensifying for a former policeman in l.a. wanted in a killing spree. and we'll also take a look at what happens when you don't get enough sleep. that's a story close to the hearts of many people that we know. we do want to get you the latest on the storm. we'll head back out to lester. >> yeah. this blizzard, erica, has certainly lived up to its billing. it has pounded the northeast. the snow has virtually stopped here in new york. as we move north in new england, it's still tough going. overnight, up to 100 cars stranded by the snow on the long island expressway. that's just the tip of the iceberg with 25 million people here in the northeast virtually

snowed in. the new york-to-boston corridor overnight ground to a halt. 25 million people snowed in. before it's over, boston could be buried under a near record two feet. so bad that driving across massachusetts banned. >> i have now signed an executive order banning vehicle traffic. >> the same goes for rhode island. >> i'm here until they say we can go home and the roads are clear. >> reporter: believe it or not, there's a road just behind this reporter in smithfield, rhode island. airlines canceled flights from philadelphia to boston. up to 3,500 all told, causing a ripple effect across the country. along the new york and new jersey coast, the storm's high tides threatened already battered homes still recovering from hurricane sandy. but it was further north where the snow hit the hardest. connecticut covered with about two feet, and severe wind

damage. winds reaching hurricane force took out trees and power for a half million people leading to some close calls. >> if i would have stayed in the car two more seconds, i would be dead today. >> a tree fell on my house, and it went through the roof and into the family room. >> reporter: conditions so extreme, a rare phenomenon caught on tape and posted to youtube from long island, new york. thunder snow. for this connecticut couple, not canceling their wedding despite the blizzard, the terrible storm will always be a sweet memory. >> everything's going to be great. it's our wirnnter wonderland wedding. >> we'll see how things are going, we have the weather channel's janel klein from hartford. >> reporter: good morning. we're waking up to about three feet of snow in hartford. in some places, there are drifts as high as seven feet.

that's got a lot of cars like this stranded on the roads under a lot of snow. in fact, it is so bad trying to be on the roads here, that the connecticut governor has actually shut down all of the roads in the state saying it is just too dangerous for people to be out. even emergency crews are having a tough time driving on those roads, having a difficult time trying to get to people who need medical attention or other help. and people at home aren't having a lot easier of a time. they are without power in many parts. in fact, 80% of customers in some towns are without power. a lot of extra people brought in to try to repair those lines. but lester, as they try to get out on the road, with high winds and low visibility, many are in the exact same situation as this car -- stuck. >> janel klein, thanks. let's head to boston now. the storm is one for the record books up there. al roker is in copley square. you called this one. nailed it on the head. >> reporter: well, his a lot of

help. we had a lot -- a team of great meteorologists, both at the "today" show and at the weather channel. i just got this hat -- deputy commander billy evans from the boston police department personally delivered a hat from mayor tom menino. so we feel pretty honored. they helped us stay in this parking lot here at copley square. getting going around is tough here in new england. as swede, 21.-- as we said, 21.8 inches. sixth largest snowfall, and we're not done yet. we've got more going on. as you look at the radar, you can still see a spin. we are not done with this by a long shot. we still have winter storm, blizzard warnings up from new york into maine. we've got winter storm warnings to the west there. throughout interior sections of new york and new england. as you see on the radar, it's getting itself together. we're looking at a lot of issues pushing through. the snow continues to come down,

especially throughout parts of eastern new england. now the good news is it is starting to taper off. the bad news is, we're still going to pick up another six to eight inches right along the coast. as move to the west, it does start to lessen just a bit. the winds are going to be a big factor, as well, though. we're going to be looking at sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour. but wind gusts still within tropical-force range. so lester, we continue to deal with a very, very powerful storm for at least another 12 hours, affecting the new england coastline. back to you. >> all right. al, thank you very much. this blizzard has shut down airports here in the northeast with more than 1,800 flights canceled today. as we noted, a lot of flights were also canceled in advance of all this. so you've got a lot of travelers stranded across the country. we have more from new york's laguardia airport. when will things start to return back to normal? >> reporter: there's a good chance that things could begin

to pick up a little bit here at laguardia sometime this afternoon. when you look at the board which is what everybody does when they come into an airport, you're not seeing nearly as many cancelation signs on the board now as we saw yesterday. just spoke to an attendant with united airlines. they said they hope to have a flight going out of here at around 1:30 this afternoon. but to houston. nothing talking about going north yet because of what al said about how bad the weather is there. overnight here, we have some people sleeping at the airport. this place was virtually shut down. nothing coming in, nothing going out. it was quiet. it's started to pick up a little bit. at this moment, no flights in. no flights out. they are hopeful something could happen this afternoon. lester? >> all right. that's why they make little airline apps, so folks can track what's going on. thank you very much. and erica, thankfully the snow has tapered off here in the city, in manhattan, which means the streets should be clear enough for me to join you in 10

or 15 minutes. >> which we look forward to. i understand you've been keeping busy in the park making snow angels, mr. holt? we may have pictures of? roy >> reporter: okay, you had pictures. yes. >> it is begging for a snow angel. i applaud your efforts. did you make a snowman? >> reporter: deny, deny, deny. i didn't make a snowman, but that is kind of snow. it is wet and clumped together. you could -- you have video, too? >> you know the rule -- the camera is always on. >> reporter: i couldn't resist. and you know what, in new york city, if you want to do that, you got to do it quick before it turns from white if you know what i mean. >> i know exactly what you mean because it's not quite 9:00 and dogs are still allowed off leash in central park this hour. >> reporter: they are. and i've seen people on skis. >> which i love. tw it's amazing, they break out the

skis whenever there's snow? new york city. they must keep them under the bed. want to turn to another big story this morning. that massive manhunt for a former police officer who is now an accused cop killer. christopher dorner remains at large. and police are concerned he could kill again. we have more live from lapd headquarters for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. lapd headquarters has always been a target. so today it remains a fortress, still heavily guarded. this as the search for the suspect winds down in one area but continues all across the state. overnight, police officers slowly pull out of big bear after completing a door-to-door search of some 600 cabins. >> police. >> reporter: for two days, at times in blizzard-like conditions, heavily armed tactical teams scoured the mountain hunting a man who used to be one of their own. but today, still no sign of murder suspect christoper dorner. >> the level of -- christopher

dorner. >> the level of frustration is that it's taking longer for them to do what they do best. that's their only frustration. it's the snow is really slowing them down. >> reporter: as police circulate new surveillance pictures of dorner taken just days before the killing began, officers near los angeles served a search warrant at his mother's home. teams bagged evidence but made no arrests. >> at this point, we're looking for any evidence that would lead to whereabouts. >> officer shot multiple times. >> reporter: the former lapd officer is accused of murdering three. among the victims, a 34-year-old riverside police officer who can't be named because police fear dorner will go after his loved ones. >> this individual has a history of targeting families. so who knows. we don't want to risk that he may target the family of an officer he killed or wounded. >> reporter: in a chilling manifesto, dorner posted on line, named officers and families he's targeted for revenge for being fired.

dr. larry barton believes dorner is a psychopath. >> he could be mad at god, mad at life, mad at your employer. when you name specific people, that's when we get concerned. >> reporter: with police on a third day of tactical alert, there have been many false sightings. a two-hour traffic jam as officers search for dorner. in san diego and las vegas, cases of mistaken identity. >> i'm fearful. i don't even want to be here now. >> reporter: a region on edge as police say a cop killer may strike again. this morning, the lapd confirms six of their officers are on paid administrative leave after opening fire on a vehicle they thought was dorner. instead inside, two people delivering newspapers, a 71-year-old woman and her daughter were shot multiple times. they are in the hospital recovering from their injuries. and this morning, erica, they have an attorney. >> all right. thank you. want to get a check of some of the morning's other top

stories from jenna wolfe. good morning. >> hey, good morning. so first lady michelle obama will be in chicago today for the funeral of the teenage girl who was killed by random gun violence. mourners packed the church on friday for 15-year-old hadiya pendleton's wake. the teen was gunned down near her school a week after attending president obama's inauguration. it has been a year since former penn state head coach joe paterno passed away. his wife is fighting back in accusations against him. sue paterno sent a letter to former penn state football players saying the man who was investigated in the freeh report was not the man she knew as her husband. mrs. paterno calls her husband a moral and disciplined man. her letter comes as the family prepares to release its own report responding to findings after the jerry sandusky scandal. an unusual traffic backup on a houston highway on friday when a house that was being hauled on the back of a trailer wound up all over the road. the house was smashed to pieces. look at that.

with just one lone wall left standing. check, please, on that one. finally, blizzards don't stop biebers. say that 85 times. justin bieber's fans waited for days to see him perform on "saturday night live." while they waited, the biebs and "snl" sent them pizza. not bad. standby tickets aren't usually handed out until saturday morning unless there's a huge blizzard and nor'easter in the northeast. then they make exceptions and hand them out on friday night. again, mind you, there's still over, what, 12 hours or so until "saturday night live." these mostly ladies have been waiting a very, very, very, very long time. >> i was there -- >> mostly ladies and bill karins. >> a very long time. >> yeah. yeah. you know, even when you e-mailed me and asked me to wait in line, i thought, doesn't somebody at this network have a connection? did we have someone wn we were that age -- anyone you would have waited that long for? >> i don't know that i would have. it's easy to say that now. thinking back --

>> come on. reveal the posters on your wall. who did you have on your bedroom wall? >> i remember camping out for u2 tickets. >> no. i -- >> i would wait in line for michael j. fox. i would have done anything for michael j. fox. literally anything. >> he doesn't even sing -- >> what was waiting for? >> i don't know. >> we'll examine that in another segment. >> or maybe we won't. i don't know. maybe we won't. bill karins is here with a check of the national forecast which is pretty busy. good morning. >> good morning. not that we needed the details to know it was an historic storm, but officially, portland, maine, reported 29.3 inches. this makes portland, maine's, largest ever snowstorm. that's how significant this is in the record books. boston now, the sixth largest snowstorm in their history. they need 5.5 more inches, the biggest ever. they could do. it let's show what we're dealing with. we have a new storm, this is out in the middle of the country. it's going to create blizzard conditions from areas around just outside of rapids city. this is a northern plains special from the dakotas all the way up to areas like fargo. the tail end of this, we could have severe storms with a slight

risk of -- maybe a damaging wind and small hail. i don't think we'll deal with too many tornadoes this weekend. at least let's hope not. that's the national forecast. again, we'll continue with right now in san jose, 34 degrees. 31 in concord. chilly 39 in oakland. we'll see mostly sunny skies today but a reminder it's still early february, so we're not going to warm up a whole lot. mostly mid to upper 50s today. close to 60 in warmer places around the north bay. tomorrow will be warmer after another possibly frosty started to the morning and the trend will continue for the better part of the seven-day forecast with high temperatures starting to warm up a little more, passing the middle part of the week. >> good news for the east coast, no big storms after this. >> that is very good news. bill, thanks. still to come, the cost of being drowsy. how your lack of sleep affects your company's bottom line. and a windfall from the

snowfall. states welcoming the blast of winter weather. we're not just talking about the kids. that's after these messages. tif. tell me we'll grow old together. in sickness and in health. tell me that i'm still the one. that you need me. that i'm your super hero! tell me you'll never let me go. tell me you miss me. that's all i need. [ female announcer ] for everything they need to hear this valentine's day, there's a hallmark card. they need to hear this valentine's day, ho w do they need to hear this valentine's day, edelicious hershey's chocolate with 30% less fat? hershey's simple pleasures chocolate.

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address to clear. the cost of the blizzard will also tax city budgets. hare in -- here in new york, for every inch of snow it costs the city $1 million to clear and remove the white stuff. center businesses, though, the snow can also be a big opportunity to make a little money. michelle franzen is in central park with that part of the story. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, erica. it's picturesque here in central park. when a storm like this big hits, it can wipe out the annual snow-removal budget for cities in just one shot. millions of dollars spent on sand, salt, and snowplows and removal. but there are also businesses and retailers that thrive during and after the storm. when the weather outside is frightful, some people have to be out in it. whether working the plows or traveling snow-packed roads. >> the conditions are horrible. yeah, we've obviously had worse. it's only going to get worse from here. >> reporter: then there are those who revel in whatever

mother nature dishes out. >> it's beautiful. i love it. it's been two years, yeah. no, it rocks. >> reporter: love it or loathe it, there is no business like snow business. for cities and towns trying to budget for snow removal and cleanup, all this snow adds up. >> the problem they run into is when they get a big storm and all of a sudden they spend the whole budget on that storm and there's nothing rest for the rest of the winter. >> reporter: new york city estimates it costs $1 million per inch of snow to clear. on the plus side, all this snow can be good for business. >> the retailers, the lowe's, the home depots of the world, they'll see more sales as people prepare for the storm. >> reporter: and ski resorts will be able to make up for the slow start to the season. in new york city's times square, the storm couldn't keep tourist from waiting in line for tickets to a broadway show. >> we're from minnesota, so i guess maybe we're used to this.

>> freezing. >> reporter: outside rockefeller center, die hard justin bieber fans camped out for the chance to see him host "saturday night live." ♪ if i was your boyfriend never let you go ♪ >> bieber! >> i just love justin, and i'd wait if it was like a tornado. >> reporter: still the cold and snow and wait tested even the most devoted fans. >> this was times in the first maybe five, eight hours, and now it's just miserable. >> reporter: and there are also the costs to businesses who had to close early and mass transit and airline cancelations. the total tab for this storm won't be known for a few weeks. >> we can probably guess that it will be large. thank you. still ahead, more blizzard coverage. first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪

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good morning. a live look at san francisco. right there, that's the bay bridge traffic heading into san francisco. maybe some people are on their way to at&t park for giants fan fest. doesn't start until 10:00 but people are already lining up outside the stadium, although

they are wrapped in blankets because it's cold. good morning. let's talk about that cold. >> about 44 degrees. >> brr. >> which is warm compared to san jose at 34 degrees. as you get closer to the water not as chilly but 31 in concord this morning. light winds this morning, patchy frost in the inland valleys. looking at mostly sunny skies. nice afternoon today but on the cool side. highs mostly upper 50s to maybe close to 60 for the afternoon. tomorrow another frosty start followed up by sunny finish. if you like that, there's a lot in the seven-day forecast. we could use more rain and snow but nothing on the horizon. just temperatures warming up, at least for the afternoon heading toward wednesday and thursday. >> valentine's day. let's mark the calendar. thanks so much. we are following that developing story out of southern california where the intense manhunt for that former lapd officer continues this morning. investigators released these new pictures of christopher dorner. police say these were taken just six days before he killed the

daughter of his former police captain and her fiancee. authorities, though, are still focusing on the town of big bear in san determibernardino mounta. officials say they hope a break in the snow today will help them in their search. meanwhile, police and u.s. marshals removed approximately ten bags of evidence from dorner's mother's home yesterday. police say both his mother and sister cooperated with the search. dorner is wanted for allegedly going on a deadly revenge-fueled rampage, targeting fellow officers and law enforcement officials he blames for ending his police career. a new details this morning on the murder of a controversial south bay millionaire. documents just released reveal how ravi kumra was killed. he was died on his kitchen floor

of asphyxiation. suspect used packaging tape to blindfold and gag him and tied his hands and feet behind his back. three men and a woman have been charged in connection with in case. police say kumra frequently hired prostitutes, including the woman who is in custody. they believe she turned over information about his mansion to other suspects who are gang members. the gangs are known to carry out home invasions, targeting asian and indian families. according to the affidavit, dna evidence led them to those suspects. coming up this morning on "today in the bay" guess who's back in town with a new look and also a new outlook? tim lincecum shows off his new do to reporters. we'll see what he has to say about earning a spot in the giants' starting rotation and his reported feud with buster posey. all of that and the other day's top stories coming up at 7:00.

back with you on a saturday morning, february 9, 2013. looking at a live picture of hartford, connecticut. you see the wind blowing the snow around. parts of the state under more than three feet of snow after this monster storm which is still pounding areas. we'll have live reports from al roker and the weather channel's mike seidel. they are both in massachusetts.

that's coming up in a moment. a shot there for you. back inside a warm and toasty studio 1a, i'm erica hill along with lester holt, jenna wolfe, and bill karins filling in for dylan dreyer this morning. still to come this half-hour, storms but also sleet. we don't know much about -- also sleep. we don't know much about sleep. >> we've had heard about it. a study shows employees who are sleep deprived costs companies big bucks. now some firms have come up with unusual methods to make sure their workers get enough rest. unfortunately not our firm. we'll show you -- >> maybe they're watching. plus, a lot of you have e-mailed, tweeted, skyped a couple of fitness questions. this morning, i'll answer a lot of them including how to get toned arms, how to keep yourself from getting bored at the gym, how to not plateau. >> what i f i wo-- what if i wo for four hours of sleep? >> just this, stay awake. if you stay awake, you're golden. later, it's one of those cold winter days. maybe you want comfort food without messing up the tips that

you'll get from jenna. we have my cauliflower -- it's healthy and delicious. >> and really hot? my fingers haven't warmed up. >> you can put them on the pot and eventually when you feel your fingers again, that's when you know they're burning and you should remove them. >> and the soup is ready. looking forward to that. let's get the latest on this blizzard in the northeast. al roker's in boston. copley square for us. good morning again. >> reporter: hey, good morning, guys. just braekeaking news, the gover of rhode island has closed all the roads in rhode island. that joins connecticut and also massachusetts. roads closed officially. so you know, people taking this storm very, very seriously. let's take a look -- we've got some statistics now. the top five amounts of snow that have fallen in this area, milford, connecticut, 38 inches of snow.

oxford, connecticut, 36. new haven, 34 inches of snow. we're looking at milford, as we said, new haven. madison, 32 inches. oxford, 36. boston, officially 21.8 inches of snow. so it's going to continue to come down. and this storm system really came together. we were talking about this on monday. but what happened was two storms really came together and provided -- one providing the moisture. the other providing the cold air. and boy, did they really phase together two days ago and just came up the coast and walloped the northeast and new england. and continue to have problems. snowfall amounts are still coming down. we've started to see the snow starting to lighten up just a little bit here in boston. but as you move north here and along the shoreline, we still have one to two-inch snowfalls per hour.

so total, additional accumulation over the next 24 hours, about four to eight inches of snow right here along the coast. boston to the north. to the west, two to four inches. further west, the areas in white, one to three inches. winds still going to be a problem. those winds are going to continue gusting around tropical force winds. but sustained winds anywhere from, oh, i'd say 20 to 25, 30 miles per hour. so again, guys, still a dangerous changeable situation. and again, all roads in rhode island have been closed joining connecticut and massachusetts. so if you are trying to get, say, from massachusetts to new york and you were driving, forget it. you can't do it. so stay home and stay safe. back to you. >> all right. same for you. and at least folks have had a lot of warning about this. >> thankfully so. they do seem in many cases to have heeded warnings which is really important. want to check in with the

weather channel's mike seidel who is north of boston in revere beach, massachusetts. mike, good morning. >> reporter: and good morning, erica. behind me is the angry north atlantic. the next high tide is the high tide as concerned, these waves here are only 10 to 12 footers. but down south toward scituate and sandwich on the cape, looking at 20-foot breakers. on top of a surge, they may run as high as two to three feet in sandwich. they've already ordered evacuations in scituate. snow here, four to five miles away where al is. four to five-foot drifts here. this is the beach at revere. the tide is coming in, high tide at 10:00 a.m. this morning. they've got a sea wall. no concerns here about the water getting over the sea wall in the property. very few cars out overnight. we've seen plows go all night long here. what a storm. we've had wind gust out here over 60 miles per hour. that has not got a lot of power. in the state of massachusetts alone, 400,000 customers without power. and the power companies are saying it could be at least

three days. and in the short term, they can't get the bucket trucks out and up because the winds are too strong. as al mentioned, a lot of snow now, lester and erica. this ranks number six in boston. likely end up number five on the record books as the biggest storm. portland, maine, has come in with over 29 inches. they've had their biggest snowstorm on record up the coast. lester, erica, back to you. >> record-setting in so many ways. thanks. and bill karins is on the plaza. he's got the rest of the national forecast. good morning. >> yeah. we want to, of course, thank and welcome all the lovely people who came to join us. we have our florida friends, south carolina friends. a couple from maryland today. and here are all the young ladies waving. and they asked what the weather was like in baltimore, i said, still cold and chilly. but just don't have the white stuff. the storm wasn't for you guys. wanted to show what we'll deal with as we go throughout your weekend. as we get rid of the storm, another couple of inches, extreme eastern new england. the next storm on its way. snow today and this morning in the rockies.

especially high elevations, they need it in colorado. it hasn't been a good winter for skiers. you'll get some today and tonight. a full-blown blizzard for the northern plains throughout tonight and sunday. minneapolis is on the south side of this. the worst will be northern minnesota and up toward fargo where you're going to have travel trouble impacts right through your sunday. that's a pretty start to the morning around the bay area. chilly. we're seeing temperature in the 30s and 40s outside. quickly passing lunchtime. we should be in mid-50s around noon. mid to upper 50s around this afternoon. tomorrow should be another frosty start. a few spots with our wind-protected valleys but our temperature trend will be trending a bit warmer. middle part of the week should see mid-60s inland with a dry forecast through the next seven days. >> they did such a good job of removing snow with all the tourists around, but this is how much snow we had on the plaza. that's untouched up there. officially 11 inches in central

park. we'll call it eight to ten compacted, erica. we did get it in new york city, but not half as bad as our friends in new england. >> that's for sure. thank you very much. it is no secret working in a show like this one, for example, means we get up really early. you know that. a lot of people have jobs where they get up early. so you know what it's like to not feel like you got enough sleep. a study shows when you don't get enough shuteye, you're a lot less productive at work. that is impacting the bottom line for many companies. just a few questions, are you sleeping at night? >> he doesn't sleep at all. >> reporter: americans aren't just sleepless in seattle anymore -- [ banging ] >> birthday time is over. go make up for all the work you missed had you were taking your nap. >> reporter: or shooti-- or sno the office. a whop 41 million of us don't get enough sleep at night. you should get eight at night, 1/3 get about six.

>> on a good night i get four hours. on a bad night i get at least two. >> possible that being sleep deprived and not having enough rest makes me not as sharp as i should be. >> reporter: according to a harvard study, sleepy workers cost companies a lot. >> if we treated machinery like we're treating the human body, we would be accused of reckless endangerment. >> reporter: businesses lose more than $63 billion every year because the drier whoa drag themselves in -- dreary who drag themselves are aren't as productive. >> slower reaction time. and in terms of cognitive ability, you can't process information as well. you don't remember. you start to forget things. you're not creative. >> reporter: now some companies like "huffington post" are actually helping employees get away from it all by installing futuristic nap pods like this one. excuse me. ♪ >> reporter: outsiders looking in who might say, gosh, at huffington, she's encouraging laziness. >> oh, god, not at all.

encouraging actually productivity. i think sleep is a performance enhancement tool. >> reporter: "huffington post" editor-in-chief insisted on two nap rooms for the 300-plus who staff for around-the-clock news operation. >> you come up to the nap room. a little bit of -- little bit of this action. >> reporter: that's rich. >> and then 15 minutes in this bad boy, i am knocking the ball out of the park, my friend. >> reporter: so what do you do if your company won't spring for fancy chairs and isn't dedicated to middle of the day shuteye? get creative. >> where do i nap? anywhere i can find a place. >> at your desk. you see what's there, and you can doze off for a second or two. >> back of my chair. the bus. >> i have a six-foot sofa in my office which, being 6'2" doesn't quite work out. >> the subway. >> in the past, i've had maybe a couch in my office, i could close the door. >> in someone else's car. >> if you've got a couch and a

dark office, you should share with somebody who needs a nap. >> good night, everybody. >> reporter: for "today," nbc news, new york. >> if you don't have a couch or a room at work where you can take a nap, don't worry. there's something called the ostrich pillow. here it is. turns out it will turn any desk into a comfortable sleeping situation. this is what the manufacturers claim. jenna, how's it going for you? >> and this is the look. >> jenna? >> like a micromat -- how is that working out? >> this is so stupid. >> it's become a viral hit. >> come on! seriously? >> they're used in commercials -- >> i could be arrested if i was out in public like this. >> you're not supposed to be in public. you're supposed to be napping. >> then you put your hands. you have a place to put your head -- >> let me ask this -- do i look comfortable? >> no, you're supposed to lay down. >> do you come in peace? this thing went viral. it's -- >> sort of a kick-starter campaign. that sort of viral funding. >> i was going to put it on, but now that i see jenna, i don't

think i'm going to actually -- seriously, would you in your office, would you use it? >> i think this thing would terrify me. it's very claustrophobic in here. yeah, i guess -- you know, desperate times call for desperate measures. look, it works in the control room. absolutely. yes. >> who is driving this bus, by the way? >> let's be honest, we're so tired sometimes it doesn't take much to fall asleep. >> look at this. >> i could fall asleep standing up. >> they look like they're from roswell. >> speaking of drawing the short straw this morning. up next, you've got questions, jenna's got answers. toning arms -- i extent that in. stay with us. of "i'm a new pare" and "i have no idea what i'm doing," you need a hand. well, walgreens is innovating to help. by making prescription refills this easy. and we're bringing our pharmacists out front to answer your questions.

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i'm getting dizzy... [ male announcer ] it's not complicated. doing two things at once is better. and only at&t's network lets you talk and surf on your iphone 5. ♪ a new series starts this morning. "ask jenna," not here in studio 1a, she's helping people work out now that she's a certified personal trainer. she can answer questions about exercise which there are many. ready? >> yeah. let's do it! >> our first question is from a caller. barbara's on the phone from goose creek, south carolina. barbara, what's your question for jenna? >> caller: good morning, enamp i'm 42 years old -- jenna, i'm 42 years old and have lost 43 pounds. i've hit a plateau and am at 194 pound. i kickbox, have a boot camp class, i am eating properly, promise you.

but i indulge once a week so i don't go crazy with eating. what do i do to get past plateaus? >> plateaus are very big. people feel like they get to some certain weight and can't do anything else. if you bike, try the elliptical. if you do the elliptical, try the treadmill. here's an idea -- get on the treadmill, run for three minutes at a brisk pace or even a sprint if you will, and then break it up with a different exercise. here's three different exercises. you get on the treadmill for three minutes, get off, why don't you do a set of 20 -- kick out, kick in and jump up. you can do something like that. get back on the treadmill for three minutes, come off, do what's called the goblet squat. grab a can of soup, bottle of water, a weight. we'll use water. squad down, come up, pivot. do 20 those. get back on the treadmill, come off. for your third exercise, do just about anything. how about a pike? get down over here, do about 30, come down nice and easy, what tell do, it will spike your hart rate, give you something --

heart rate, give you something different. it will give you strength training and calories. >> it fools your muscles do into doing more work -- >> when you surprise your muscles, they work harder and you burn more calories. >> the next question is via skype from lisa. good morning. >> good morning and congratulations, jenna, on your certificati certification. >> thank you. >> i work out five to six days a week and maintain a balance between cardio and strength training. i don't incorporate yoga or pilates. is it important to add these activities? and what would you shoot for as a balance? >> if you're going to give yourself four to five days a week of working out, i would love to see you do cardio three days a week, strength training two days a week. and leave a sixth day to do whatever you want, to have fun, play a game of pickup basketball, to take a yoga class, maybe substitute one of the cardios for a yoga. but just to do something that's a little more fun. so definitely get your strength training in there. it's so important especially for women to do that. >> all right. good questions. good answers.

thank you very much. >> appreciate it. >> all right. and ahead, some comfort food for your saturday morning that will not ruin jenna's tips, i promise. we're making -- >> right? >> we're making cauliflower soup. mm. first, this is "today" on nbc.

♪ if ever there was a day for comfort food, this might be it. >> smells good. >> yeah. cooking today would be the day. the last few weekends, erica has been showing us her mac and cheese, beef burgundy, so good, by the way. now soup. >> let's go 3-3. we're making cauliflower soup. you may think blech. no. >> change it -- >> i'm going to race through this quickly, we're tight on time. i throw in the pot, we have leeks, shallots and a little olive oil. i like leeks and shallots because it gives it more robust

flavor, richer than onions. get those until they're translucent. soft but not brown. dump in a head of cauliflower. stir this around. cook it for a couple of minutes. after that, you're going to power in -- use chicken stock or vegetable stock. i make it with vegetable stock for my friend mary murphy who doesn't eat anything -- >> whole thing? >> y. dump it in. throw in bay leaves -- >> could you use something other than cauliflower? >> you could. this works well with asparagus. you'll want to adjust the amount -- throw in the bay leaves. you'll want to adjust the amount of liquid because asparagus has so much liquid in it naturally. if you want a creamier soup, use less liquid. simmer for 20 minutes. and then the very important job which jenna has today, if you have an immersion blender, you can do this in the pot. there you go. and when it works, what it will do is grind up -- >> yes. >> nice. >> puree the cauliflower. make sure you remove the bay leaves first. you can also do it in batches in

a blender if you need to. and then season it with salt and pepper to taste. and stand back if jenna's in the kitchen. >> okay. anyway, consider that done. it was awesome. >> consider it done. i like to serve it -- you could do it as a first course, you could also do it as your main. i highly recommend serving it with crostini which we have here. bill, do you want to hand out the soup? these we just do -- brush with olive oil. you toast them in the oven, a dash of olive oil. there you go. i like to sprinkle them with a little part -- little parm. not grated. thyme. >> bill's like, oh, we're on a bunch and time crunch. everyone gets one teaspoon. >> if you want to add extra color, you could sprinkle fresh herbs on top like so. gives it a nice bit of color. >> sprinkle cheese? >> sprinkle cheese. >> that's for you. >> thank you. >> it's healthy, right? >> yeah. this is actually very healthy.

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i would just like to say, lester had seconds and he thought he wouldn't like. yes! >> it's good. especially with it cold outside. >> he'll eat anything. >> i'm kidding. >> good morning. coming up next on "today in the bay" a terrorism sting leads a south bay man in the jail. his plan to blow up bank of america in oakland and how the fbi stopped him in his tracks. >> come running toward me again. and then the second guy pulled

the gun out and swung it at me. >> a good neighbor turns crime-fighter. how he used the one thing he knows best to outsmart the thieves. guess what? baseball is back, right, and early. giving you live look at at&t park this morning where fans are already lining up ahead of giants fanfest. still about three hours away but one star player they may not recognize. "today in the bay" is next. mom, i invited justin over for lunch.

good. no, not good. he's a vegetarian and he's going to be here in 20 minutes! [ mom ] don't stress. we can figure this out.

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♪ the one and only, cheerios this is a live look. that's a great look right outside at&t park where hundreds of people are lined up, excited about giants fanfest. that gets under way at 10:00 this morning. we're still three hours away. that's what you call die hard appreciation. thanks for being with us. it's straight up 7:00. kris sanchez is off today. let's check the cold forecast with meteorologist raj mathai. >> you see a lot in jackets. san francisco, the warmest spot, 34 in san jose.

32 in livermore and concord. a little patchy frost possible. if you're headed out to fanfest, it's a little chilly. no fog, mid-50s for highs but a little cool. notice the lack of any clouds except along the coates, half moon bay may see a few patchy clouds. by lunch time, mid to upper 50s. the seven day forecast pretty unusual. we're talking about a warm-up and a stretch of dry area for the bay area. >> we begin with the good work of the fbi. officials say a san jose man could spend time in prison for his time in a homegrown prisoner plot. he was planning to blow up the bank of america in oakland with help from the