cleaning up and cleaning up and digging out. the blizzard buries parts of new england under 3 feet of snow. and fierce winds deliver destruction and knock out power. president obama pays respect to saudi arabia, bringing a heavyweight delegation to meet the new king. and confirmation showdown. senate republicans promise to grill the woman tapped to be the next attorney general. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, january 28, 2015. good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. in the words of one new englander, it was a wicked storm. the blizzard of 2015 battered boston and hammered the massachusetts coast with hurricane-force winds. this morning the storm is winding down, but the damage is done.

the snow in new england began monday and continued most of yesterday. some areas got 3 feet. by last night boston had over 23 inches. chris van cleave is in marshfield on massachusetts's south coast. >> reporter: here in marshfield the blizzard of 2015 hit like a frozen hurricane. hurricane-force winds and high tide pounded parts of new england. coastal massachusetts was hardest hit. about 30 miles south of boston, high tides and 75-mile-an-hour winds took out a section of sea wall in marshfield. took out seven homes, several were condemned. >> we've got to make a determination as to whether to evacuate some of the people down here now that the breach is open, it's going to cause more flooding. >> reporter: one man had to be rescued from his home after a large wave slammed into his home. at least 30,000 homes and

businesses were without power in the boston/cape cod area, including the entire island of nantucket. all around new england, snowplows couldn't keep up. by last night, just under 2 feet of snow covered most of boston. a travel ban was in effect in eastern and central massachusetts until midnight. other parts of new england from connecticut to maine were also hard hit. in addition to the snow and the wind, there is the bitter cold. the low in boston, only around 10 degrees, with the windchill closer to negative 5. across massachusetts, schools are closed today. some districts are closed tomorrow. chris van cleave, cbs news, massachusetts. the storm largely spared new york city. despite predictions the snow and wind would be crippling. the city largely shut down in anticipation. jim axelrod shows us why the forecast got it wrong and how that may lead to change. >> reporter: new york city mayor bill de blasio was talking doomsday.

>> we are facing most likely one of the largest snowstorms in the history of this city, in recorded history of this city. >> reporter: but the forecasts turned out to be only half right. the storm developed 90 miles east of the epected track. new england and long island got nailed but for manhattan and points south, no big deal. the national weather service forecaster who predicted a crippling storm that never came for some 10 million people tweeted a meteorological mea kulpa. my deepest apologies to many key decision-makers and so many members of the general public wrote gary szatkowski. but gary shepherd says, no apology necessary. >> i think the forecasts were right if you take the northeast as a whole. this is an historic storm for boston and massachusetts. we're talking upwards of 30 inches of snow in some places. new york, different story. but i think the key to note

there is that the models were always a bit uncertain in that area. >> in situations like this you can't be a monday-morning quarterback on something like the weather. >> reporter: fresh in de bl blasio's mind, perhaps, when forecasters underplayed an ice storm. super computers will be upgraded and will be ten times as powerful by october. but shepherd says the key for forecasters and public officials is conveying uncertainty. >> we do a nice job of it with hurricanes. you know the cone of uncertainty you see where a hurricane will make landfall, that's conveying there's uncertainty on either side of that hurricane. is that something needed for nor'easters? that's a discussion point. >> that's jim axle record reporting. his captored issued an ultimatum in a video released tuesday. his captors threatened to kill him along with a jordanian pilot also being held within 24

hours, unless jordan frees a woman who's on death row for her role in a terror attack. a group with ties to isis says it's responsible for the deadly siege of a hotel in libya. ten people died tuesday when gunmen stormed the building in the capital city of tripoli. fighting went on for hours. the total is popular with diplomats and businessmen. an american, a french citizen and three people from asia are among the dead. president obama is back at the white house this morning. air force one landed at joint base andrews early today after an overseas trip to india and saudi arabia where the president met the new king. margaret brennan looks at the complicated u.s./saudi relationship. >> reporter: the president arrived in riyadh with a heavyweight bipartisan delegation. three secretaries of state, four national security advisers and the heads of the cia and military central command. in his meeting with the king, the president reiterated the

u.s. need for saudi support in the fight against terrorism. james smith is a former u.s. ambassador to saudi arabia. >> we also have to stay in touch because they're close allies in the fight on terrorism, undermining support for extremism and they'll be part of the solution for solving the isis problem and stability in the region. >> reporter: oil-rich saudi arabia is dependent on the u.s. for weapons and security. it is threatened from the south by al qaeda. the kingdom is a party of coalition against isis but saudi arabia is also critical of president obama's perceived lack of leadership in syria and his decision to negotiate with long-time foe iran about its nuclear program. ambassador smith said the two will still remain allies. some people have often described

our marriage as a catholic marriage in a muslim world. we desperately need each other, can't imagine a divorce but disagree on a lot of things. >> reporter: for its part the u.s. is critical for its restrictions on women and human rights abuses, like public beheadings. part of the ostere of islam practiced in the kingdom. but regardless, it's oil and security that bind these two powers. margaret brennan, cbs news, the state department. confirmation hearings begin this morning for attorney general nominee loretta lynch. a career prosecutor lynch will face tough questions, particularly from republican lawmakers, looking to derail her nomination. susan mcginnis is in washington. >> reporter: good morning. lynch has been prepping and studying for today participating in mock hearings and she has met with every single member of the judiciary committee. president obama nominated lynch to replace eric holder, the current a.g., who is now stepping down.

she's a harvard educated career prosecutor with few ties to washington. so, that can work in her favor. lynch can play up the fact that she's a prosecutor and not a politician. she has twice served as u.s. attorney for eastern district of new york where there have been more terror-related cases prosecuted than anywhere else. lawmakers will question lynch about her experience in dealing with things like terrorism, cyber crimes and also bank prosecutions. she also will certainly have to explain her views on immigration and the president's use of executive power. she will reportedly tell the committee that the constitution will be her guide when she's determining the legality of any of the president's actions. senator ted cruz, a republican on the committee, says he'll be looking for independence from the president's agenda. >> susan mcginnis in washington. thank you. on the "cbs moneywatch," apple posts historic profits and a major car recall. jill wagner is at the new york

stock exchange with that and more. good morning, jill. strong corporate earnings boosted asian stocks. tokyo's nikkei added a fraction. hong kong's hang seng added a quarter percent. in wall street facebook reports fourth quarter results today after disappointing earnings report yesterday sent the stocks lower. the dow lost 291 points on tuesday. the s&p was down 27. the nasdaq fell 90. apple set sales records for the hole lay season, thanks to blowout sales of the new laernlgrger iphones over the three months. the company smashed its own records. the surge in iphone sales drove the company's revenue to more than $74 billion. that is up 30% from a year ago. the federal reserve issues its policy statement today after wrapping up its two-day meeting. investors are looking to the fed for signs of possible economic weakness that might cause a delay in interest hikes. the first rate increase is expected midyear. the fed is expected to repeat its promise to be patient.

the obama administration is proposing a plan that would open up the first ever oil drilling off the east coast of the united states. it would auction areas located more than 50 miles off virginia north carolina south carolina and georgia to oil companies no earlier than 2021. the oil industry supports the proposal but environmental groups are opposed. more than 93,000 vehicles worldwide are being recalled to fix fuel leak problems. five audi models, one voelgs voelgs wagon and two porsche models are involved. and two porsche models are involved. audi says vibration during driving can cause small leaks. they're not aware of any problems or fires caused from the problem. >> jill wagner at the new york stock exchange. thanks a lot, jill. coming up on the morning news -- caught on helmet cam. a dramatic rescue carried out by firefighters in a burning home. this is the "cbs morning news." >> announcer: this portion of

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tylenol®. a firefighter's helmet camera shows a dramatic rescue sunday in fresno, california. thick smoke pours from an apartment. the firefighters enter the dark interior and discover three children unconscious inside. one by one, they carry them to safety. neighbors say the mother had gone to the store when the accidental fire broke out. the children are in critical condition. two former vanderbilt university football players face long prison sentences this morning. a jury convicted the men of rape and assault tuesday in connection with a group attack in a dorm room. danielle nottingham reports. >> guilty of aggravated rape. guilty of aggravated rape. >> reporter: it took a nashville jury just a few hours to convict former vanderbilt football

players brandon vandenburg and core batey. both found guilty of aggravated rape and section you'll battery. prosecutors say they laughed and took photos as a group of men defiled a female neurosurgeon student. >> did you consent to any of the acts? >> absolutely not. >> did you consent to any photographs be taken of you? no. >> reporter: prosecutors say vandenburg brought his 21-year-old unconscious girlfriend back to the dorm room on the night of the attack. one witness testified that vandenburg even flew to california to destroy information on his cell phone. his attorneys cited a college culture of excessive drinking and promiscuity. >> they're good boys. >> reporter: prosecutors read a statement from the victim. >> i'm thankful that the criminal justice system will hold the defendants responsible for their violent crimes.

>> reporter: vandenburg and batye face decades in prison. sentencing set for march 6th. danielle nottingham, cbs news. wisconsin's republican governor, scott walker, takes the first step toward a white house run. walker formed a new tax-exempt group as he considers becoming a candidate in 2016. he's best known for taking on public employee unions four years ago. straight ahead now, marshawn lynch's message. the seattle seahawks' star running back had one thing to say to reporters on super bowl media day. media day.

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. in sports, it was super bowl media day in arizona before sunday night's big game. it was a surprise that seattle running back marshawn lynch took part in the festivities because he has a history of being fined with not talking with reporters. but he only had one thing to say, over and over. >> i'm here so i won't get fined. i'm here so i won't get fined. i'm here so i won't get fined. i'm here so i won't get fined. >> why do you think he showed up? after 29 repetitions in about five minutes, lynch got up and left.

and the controversy over deflated footballs was mostly a nonissue at media day. new england patriots' coach bill belichick side stepped most nonfootball questions from reporters. he kept repeating, we're just focused on seattle this week. tiger woods is also in arizona for this weekend's phoenix open. after his first practice rounds of the year, he says he's ready and driving the ball farther than he ever thought he could again. last year woods had back surgery and no victories. and one of hockey's greatest goalies is retiring. martin brodeur wrapped up a 22-year career with st. louis. he won three stanley cups with new jersey and holds regular season nhl records for wins, shutouts and games. brodeur, who's 42, was an all-star ten times. when we return, drunken drone adventure. a surprising look at who's behind the white house drone incident that touched off a security scare. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. and here's another look at this morning's top stories. boston and nearby parts of new england are digging out of more than 2 feet of snow this morning. the blizzard lashed the region with hurricane-force winds. tens of thousands are without power. and an american is among ten people killed in a terror attack on a luxury hotel in libya. a group with ties to isis says the siege tuesday was to avenge the abduction by american commandos of a libyan operative. officials in indonesia say they'll continue to search for victims of airasia flight 8501 for another week.

yesterday the military announced it would halt efforts to raze the plane's fuselage amid bad weather. 70 bodies have been recovered but 162 were aboard the flight when it crashed last month in the java sea. the man who crashed a small drone on the white house grounds works for a u.s. spy agency. the man was reportedly drunk and offduty when he lost control of the drone monday. the national geospatial intelligence agency says he turned himself in hours after the incident. and a surprising discovery about that big asteroid that flew by the earth. nasa says the first images of the asteroid shows it has its own moon. the asteroid itself measured more than 1,000 feet across. its moon is only 230 feet wide. a canadian astronaut called the discovery strangely delightful. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," an up date from massachusetts on the blizzard aftermath. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news."

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this week the world remembered what it vowed never to forget. hundreds gathered yesterday at auschwitz death camp in poland to mark the liberation by soviet troops. one survivor spoke to dean reynolds. >> reporter: this is the last picture werner koppel has of his parents and brother at their home in germany. the last time he saw them in person was 1941. >> i said good-bye to them, never to see or hear from them again. >> reporter: on april 20, 1943, adolf hitler's birthday, and he remembers the first day of passover, koppel arrived at auschwitz. >> a lot of commotion, hollering, shouting, dogs, whips, and the first command we heard was, women and children to the left, men to the right. >> reporter: for the next 20

months, the largest death camp in the whole nazi empire was his home, where this german jew toiled as a slave laborer. >> we had to appear naked in front of an s.s. officer who with one look decided if that prisoner was still able to work. and if that prisoner would not be able to work, he would be sent what we called in prison language going through the chimney. being gassed and being burned. >> reporter: he remembers the fear and the hunger. >> our thoughts were, where can i get something to eat? where's the next garbage can? >> reporter: come, koppel who will be 90 next month, was lucky. of the 1.3 million people sent to auschwitz, 1.1 million died there. in january, 70 years ago on a forced march, he escaped, and found shelter with other jews in a farmhouse. >> always one of us was on the second floor, looking out because we were afraid the

germans may come back. >> reporter: but they never did. koppel was free and eventually made his way to cincinnati. >> i came to this country as a displaced person. >> reporter: nowadays he shares his memories with a new generation. we caught up with him at an exhibition sponsored by cincinnati's center for holocaust and humanity education. that's where he paused to look at this prayer book, the one that was hidden in a jewish cemetery in berlin during the war. the same one he read a loud at passover in the german capital almost a year after hitler's suicide. what were you feeling? >> i tell you what we were feeling. you tried to get rid of the jews. you tried to destroy the jews. we are here. >> reporter: and their story can still be heard. >> and i hope you will learn from it. >> reporter: dean reynolds, cbs news, cincinnati. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," an

update from hard-hit massachusetts on the blizzard aftermath. plus airlines reported strong profits. melody hobson tells us whether that will translate into save gdz savings of travelers. and the ceo of zillow.com joins us in studio. that's "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. anne-marie green. have a great day.

your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. and good morning to you on this wednesday, live look at the golden gate bridge. just a few cars rolling in this morning as we begin our early- morning shift here on wednesday january 28. >> very early. >> i'm juliette goodrich in for

michelle griego. >> hi, everyone. i'm frank mallicoat. it's 4:30. good to have you on board. elizabeth is getting acquainted with aaa right now. she had a flat tire so you get to double dip for a little bit huh. >> it's ironic when your traffic reporter has a flat tire. >> kind of. >> good morning, everybody. today's temperatures are going to be a little bit warmer than yesterday. taking a live look out the door right now, we have some overcast conditions and in oakland 45 degrees. it is mild and 53 in san francisco. we are in the mid-40s in san jose and santa rosa. today's temperatures even warmer than yesterday. we're talking about 63 in pacifica. nearly 70 in redwood city and gilroy. as we look ahead, we're going to be challenging record warmth again over the weekend and these temperatures were just established -- these record highs, i should say, just one year ago. so something is very wrong with this picture here. we're talking about no rain. what is in sight, however, is some construction work. it's going on