it is tuesday, january 7th, 2025. this is cbs "news mornings." winter wallop. first the snow and ice, now the polar plunge. bone-chilling temperatures grip two-thirds of the u.s. a democratic ritual goes on peacefully. vice president kamala harris certifies the result of the 2024 election she lost, a vastly

different scene than four years ago. and breaking overnight. a powerful earthquake rocks a remote region of tibet and the death toll is rising. ♪ ♪ good morning. i'm michael george. well, tens of millions of americans are digging out from the first major winter storm of the new year. from indiana to washington, d.c., nearly a dozen states are buried in snow and ice, and in the hardest hit areas it is up to a foot and a half deep. at least five people have been killed in crashes in kansas and missouri, and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without power, and the temperatures are dropping into dangerous territory. we have a team of reporters out covering the storm. we begin with cbs news meteorologist rob marciano in the nation's capital. over half a foot of winter white quickly piling up in the nation's capital, a city that averages just over 18 inches of know a jyear.

so its relatively small fleet of plows is struggling to keep the roads clear, work crews using other tactics to move the snow, power sweepers and leaf blowers on sidewalks and lots of shand shelfers like t. mckeavy, one of many workers hired to work for the day. >> it is tough. i wish i had a snow blower. >> reporter: alison is a federal employee using her snow day as a rare dc ski day. it is the same system that buried parts of the midiest over the weekend, hitting kansas city, missouri, with the biggest blizzard in three decades. the storm is still making a mess on the highways, stranding drivers and stalling tractor trailers. >> reporter: i'm traveling north along i-65 in kentucky where conditions go from bad to worse the closer you get to louisville. along the outskirts of the city we drove past scenes where a car slid off the road and slid on the side. the concern is a thick enough

coating could bring down branches leading to power outages. louisville saw the most snow on a single day in 25 years sunday with 9 inches. more fell today as people tried to dig out. >> reporter: i'm kris van cleave at chicago o'hare airport. crews are dealing with freezing rain and frigid temperatures. it is causing delays across the board here, in part because every single airplane has to be de-iced. in other parts of the midwest all the way out to the northeast, airports are being impacted from this storm, and in many places it is digging out from or being hammered by snow. that means thousands of delays and cancellations. kris van cleave, thanks. now a bitter blast of arctic air is gripping the mid section of the country. today the windchill in minneapolis will feel like 7, and temperatures drop below freezing all the way south to oklahoma. tonight windchills drop below zero in kansas city, and it will feel like the 20s near the gulf coast. the deep freeze and a developing

winter storm in the south will bring a threat of accumulating snow thursday to dallas and oklahoma city. then it spreads east into little rock and memphis thursday evening into friday. looking out west, the national weather service in los angeles warns of extreme winds and a dangerous wildfire threat. the winds are expected to gust 60 to 80 miles an hour later today and wednesday. we're expected to hear from president-elect donald trump today, one day after congress certified his election victory with order and civility. vice president kamala harris oversaw the count of electoral votes in an election she lost. it was a stark contrast to the chaos that erupted four years ago on january 6th when rioters stormed the u.s. capitol. cbs's jarred hill joins us now from washington. jarred, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, michael. there was a lot of talk especially among democrats on the hill about the peaceful transfer of power as congress certified president-elect trump's election win as you mentioned amid heightened

security here in washington. >> donald j. trump of the state of florida has received 312 votes. >> reporter: with vice president kamala harris presiding monday, congress certified the election of her opponent, donald trump, as the next president of the united states. >> the chair declares this joint session dissolved. thank you. >> reporter: the proceedings lasted just about 30 minutes, a far cry from four years ago when a violent mob stormed the capitol, trying to stop the certification of president joe biden's 2020 election win in favor of donald trump. >> one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power. >> reporter: trump celebrated on social media posting, "congress certifies our great election victory today, a big moment in history, maga." house speaker mike johnson told reporters he spoke with trump over the weekend and yesterday as the new gop house and senate begin working on trump's legislative priorities.

>> what he wants to ensure is that we deliver the america first agenda. that is our mission and our intent. >> reporter: the nation's capital is on high security alert with a number of high-profile events this month including trump's second inauguration in about two weeks. large fences and heavy police presence are back around parts of the now-snow-covered city. this comes as the body of former president jimmy carter is set to arrive at the capitol later today. the former president set to lie in state until thursday before his state funeral. jarred, i want to ask about the late-night legal filing from trump's lawyers. they're trying to stop jack smith from releasing the report on two of trump's criminal cases. what can you tell us about it? >> reporter: i will skim the surface because both get a little deep. we are talking about two cases, the allegations that trump either, a, illegally tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and then the other one that he unlawfully mishandled classified documents after

leaving the white house the first time around. now, what we are seeing here is both of those cases have been since dismissed by the department of justice because of the doj's rule that they don't prosecute a president. this happened after the election. lawyers though for two of the former co-defendants in that classified documents case are making the allegation that jack smith doesn't have the authority to release this report because a florida federal judge said that he was appointed unlawfully. now, we know that lawyers for former president trump, president-elect trump have said that they've seen a draft of this report and that they feel as though it would be a -- as they quote -- one-sided narrative regarding what happened with both of these situations. now, they're asking here for attorney general merrick garland to do one of two things. either, a, he would get rid of jack smith all together before he releases the report to him. this report would initially go to garland, and garland has said that he would release the results of any reports that he has gotten to the public. or, b, they want for all of this

to wait until after the inauguration so that trump's attorney general can handle the situation and do with it what they will. we haven't heard any response back yet from the department of justice. so we'll see where this goes. >> jarred hill in washington. thanks. president biden repriced his role of consoler in chief perhaps for the last time. the president and first lady, jill biden, visited new orleans last night and attended a vigil for the 14 victims killed in the new year's attack on bourbon street. biden pledged to give the city additional resources to help secure next month's super bowl and mardi gras season which began yesterday. cbs's omar villafranca reports. >> reporter: president biden and first lady jill biden traveled to new orleans nearly a week after the deadly new year's attack in the crescent city. >> new orleans defines strength and resilience. you define it, whether it is in the form of this attack, from this attack or hurricanes or

super storms. this city and its people get back up. >> reporter: 14 people were killed when the suspect, identified as shamsud-din jabbar, intentionally rammed a pickup truck into a crowd before he was killed by police. over the weekend the fbi released a video showing the army veteran riding a bicycle through the french quarter last october and recording video of the scene using his meta smart glasses. other clips captured on street cameras and released by the fbi appear to show jabbar planting homemade bombs in coolers throughout bourbon street hours before carrying out the attack. >> he didn't use the right, the correct device to set it off, and that is just indicative of his inexperience and lack of understanding. >> reporter: in light of the tragedy, officials here in new orleans are beefing up security to protect mardi gras revelers as celebrations here begin. >> there probably will be more vehicles accompanying us because

everybody wants safety first. >> reporter: new orleans mayor has called on a tactical expert to review ahead of the super bowl. >> an expert opinion is something that will assure us that what we're installing meets the need, but if not we're not stopping there. >> reporter: as the city continues to grieve, family and friends said a final goodbye to tiger bech, the 27 year old who died in last week's attack was laid to rest monday in lafayette, remembers as a fierce and loyal friend who impacted so many. omar villafranca, cbs news, new orleans, louisiana. coming up, more legal trouble for rudy giuliani, plus the first bird flu death in the u.s. how the person got sick and is the general public at risk? prevent asthma attacks. reatp airsupra should not be used as a maintenance treatment for asthma. get medical help right away if your breathing doesn't improve

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western chinese region of tibet near the nepal border. security cameras captured the moment the 7.1 magnitude quake shook the region. people went running as merchandise flew off store shelves. rescue crews are now searching for people trapped in the rubble. hundreds of homes have been damaged and about 130 people injured. a deal to overhaul police police training after the murder of george floyd and a u.s. birdie flu death. those are some of the headlines we are following. "the advocate" reports on the first death of a patient with bird flu. the person was over 65 with underlying medical problems. the person detected the virus from csick and dead birds in a backyard flock. the cdc says the risk to the

general public remains low. "the minnesota star tribune" says the city of minneapolis approved a federal oversight agreement with the u.s. department of justice. the deal to overhaul training comes four years after the murder of george floyd in an arrest. changes have been made including not allowing race, gender or ethnicity to influence any decision to use force. a federal judge will oversee the changes. "the new york times" says a federal judge held rudy giuliani in contempt of court in his $148 million defamation judgement. the judge said giuliani failed to properly respond to requests in handing over assets. he was found liable and ordered to turn over assets after falsely accusing the mother and daughter of ballot fraud during the 2020 election. coming up ahead, rolling back dei.

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talk to a doctor to see if nurtec is right for you. here here is a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ ♪ take a look at this. the giant pandas enjoying their first snow day at the smithsonian national zoo. the zoo posted video of them playing in the fresh snow that blanketed dc yesterday. the pandas are set to make their public debut on friday, january 24th. well, another big company cuts back its diversity program, and the fight over u.s. steel heads to the courts. here's shanelle kaul with today's "money watch." a mixed open to the markets monday with the s&p and the nasdaq marking a second straight day in the win column. the dow lost 25 points. the nasdaq gained 243 and the

s&p 500 rose 32 points. nippon steel is still plowing ahead with its proposed $15 billion takeover of u.s. steel despite president joe biden's move to block the acquisition. both companies filed federal lawsuits against the biden administration, accusing the government of ignoring the rule of law. in separate lawsuits, the steelmaker said the deal would, quote, enhance, not threaten the united states' national security. mcdonald's is the latest company to roll back its diversity initiatives. the move follows the u.s. supreme court decision outlawing affirmative action in college admissions. the fast food giant says it will end specific goals for adding diversity to its senior leadership. and a big merger in the streaming world. disney's hulu+ live tv and sports streaming service fubo are joining forces. disney will have a 70% stake

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well, jennifer lopez and ben affleck are ready to make their divorce final. the hollywood power couple is said to have settled the terms of their divorce through mediation and have asked a judge to sign off. now, the financial terms weren't disclosed but documents show that neither spouse will receive support and lopez will drop affleck from her legal name once the divorce is finalized. the couple married in july 2022. and "spider-man" co-stars zendaya and tom holland are engaged. the long-time couple sparked rumors when she was seen playing a 5-plus diamond ring at the golden globes. holland reportedly popped the question over the holidays while the duo was visiting families. they say they will take their engagement slowly. post malone played santa

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♪ ♪ love a trumpet on a tuesday, as we welcome you to "cbs mornings." i'm gayle king. >> i'm tony dokoupil. >> i'm nate burleson. >> we're all here so let's go today's "eye opener," it's your world." in 90 seconds. deadly winter weather blankets much of the country in snow leaving thousands without power with other storm on the