mr. scott to name somebody, anybody as lieutenant governor within 30 days. the question is, can he do it? can you do it, governor? can you find somebody to say yes? good wednesday morning. right now on "first look," deadly deep freeze. almost two dozen people have died from the record-breaking cold. even hell, michigan, froze over at minus 9, but some relief is on the way. gates open up. the former secretary of defense unleashes a scathing account of his time fighting two wars and attacking both presidents he served. we have the explosive details. vail tragedy. the grandson of the man who founded the rich and famous colorado ski resort perishes in a freak avalanche. plus, beef prices are on the rise, a real-life velveeta processed cheese shortage, and lebron gets smacked. plus, kicking it up a notch. thanks for joining us, everyone. i'm betty nguyen. well, there is finally some

relief on the way, but at least 21 people have died as the polar vortex blanketed the u.s., shattering the record books with negative temperatures. it was below freezing at least somewhere in each of the 50 states on tuesday, yes, even in hawaii. an estimated 190 million people faced the icy blast head on, but so did pets, and it is a reminder to not leave them outside in this weather. this little guy right here, peanut is his name, was frozen to the ground in mississippi when it reached minus 4 this week. thankfully, though, he is a-okay. the record-shattering cold even caused hell to freeze over, literally. the small town of hell, michigan, felt like 36 below 0 with the windchill. nbc's sarah dallof has more. >> reporter: the view from above captures it perfectly. chicago, a city frozen in place. in minnesota, dramatic video of a car careening off an icy bridge, the driver walking away, amazingly, with minor injuries. elsewhere in the state, workers

put in long hours to bring faulty furnaces back to life. >> hunker down. you're working a long day. you can't leave people without heat in this. can't do it. >> reporter: all 50 states recorded freezing temperatures at some point tuesday, and an unlucky few recorded record lows. 4 degrees in new york city, negative 11 in cleveland and negative 1 in asheville, north carolina. for millions, the continued cold meant a continued travel nightmare. i-65 in indiana turned into a parking lot for tractor-trailers. and a soggy situation at reagan national airport in washington, when a pipe burst, flooding terminal hallways. passengers nationwide faced delays and cancellations as airlines deiced planes and cleared runways, fighting what sometimes felt like a losing battle against the powerful polar vortex. sarah dallof, nbc news. and nbc meteorologist bill karins joins us in just a moment with what we can expect, and hopefully, that is some relief.

want to turn now, though, to what's being called a shocking and terrible tragedy on colorado's vail mountain. an avalanche killing the grandson of the ski resort's founder. authorities say the large avalanche killed 24-year-old anthony siebert. three others were hurt but were able to escape the scene on their own. siebert's death is just the fifth avalanche-related death this season. officials say the area was at a considerable visit because of new snowfall on top of what's considered a weak snow base. and one more note on this cold this morning, and that is the cold reception being felt inside the white house. a new book aims to take down the obama administration on its national security policy, and the unlikely author is former defense secretary robert gates. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: when bob gates left the obama cabinet, the president surprised his defense secretary with the medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. >> you're not only one of the

longest serving secretaries of defense in american history, but it is also clear that you've been one of the best. >> i'm deeply honored and moved. >> reporter: but in his sensational, new memoir, gates excorites the president, vice president joe biden and tom donelan for their handling of the war in afghanistan and the military. gates says "suspicion and distrust of senior military officers by senior white house officials, including the president and vice president, became a big problem for me." after a march 2010 national security council meeting, gates writes, "i thought the president doesn't trust his commander, can't stand karzai, doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his. for him, it's all about getting out." this, although gates had told matt lauer about the war -- >> i think we're all on the same page. >> reporter: but in his book, gates accuses biden of poisoning the well against the military leadership and cites donnellon

and his national security team for "aggressive, suspicious and sometimes condescending and insulting questioning of our military leaders." and while praising hillary clinton, gates expresses dismay at hearing clinton tell the president she only opposed the iraq war because she was running against him in the iowa caucuses. gates writes that the president, in turn, conceded his opposition to the iraq surge was political. still, despite his unusually harsh criticism of obama, gates calls the president's approval of the raid against osama bin laden "one of the most courageous decisions i have ever witnessed in the white house." but the gates book is arming critics of obama's iraq strategy as well. >> 90-some young americans died in fallujah, 600 were wounded. now we see people driving around with black al qaeda flags. that's so sad. what do we tell their families? >> and that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. well, that blanket of arctic weather sweeping the country is making air travel dangerous, even after takeoff.

an american airlines flight made an emergency landing after a water pipe burst at 30,000 feet. can you imagine? the ruptured line showered many passengers, leaving them soaking in their seats. flight 1106 from dallas to baltimore landed safely after being diverted to little rock. and other than being wet, everyone was a-okay. more than a million long-term unemployed americans have been without benefits for 11 days now, but help is slowly on the way from washington. on tuesday, six republicans helped get a benefits package to the 60-vote threshold, ending a filibuster. it was a move that even seemed to surprise many democrats. but before a final vote, lawmakers will now grapple with how to pay for the three-month extension. it comes at a $6.5 billion cost that both parties want offset. senate leaders expect that final vote to happen by the end of the week. we begin sports with an epic big ten battle in college hoops. in the closing minute of

overtime, keith appling of number five michigan state hits a 3-pointer to take the lead. the spartans held on to beat third-ranked ohio state 73-68. in the nba, late in miami's game against new orleans, lebron james took time to actually kiss a fan in the front row. she's also got a picture as the heat scorched the pelicans 107-88. that was nice of him. how rich is tiger woods? well, according to "golf digest," his career earnings have now passed $1.3 billion. and olympic gold medalist and world champion lindsey vonn, who also happens to be tiger's girlfriend, will not compete at the winter olympics in sochi because of her injured knee. okay, we've got to check this out. it is something we have never seen, and you may not have wanted to see it. after a mixed martial arts fight saturday, andy eikholtz posted this picture of himself. now, that looks so painful, but on top of that, what's amazing is that he's actually smiling in it. >> i need the before and after. >> i hope he can somehow breathe

through that nose. an israeli soccer player made a remarkable, acrobatic midair twist. >> nice. >> did you see that? helping the ball in for a goal, helping his tel aviv team beat haifa 3-1. try doing that twice, right? and the jacksonville jaguars team mascot took a dive on a zip line from high, way, way above! that is frightening. cheerleaders there to encourage him, but hey, they even got in on the action. those are some brave women. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with more on this brutal cold snap. i know, bill, people have been asking you all week long, when is it going to be over. do you have good news for us? soon enough! >> all smug over there. >> from here to summer it warms up considerably. yeah, the cold is on its way out, but not fast enough for many of you out there. and one of the spots that's just really struggled over the last two days has been the greater buffalo area. about 12 to 24 inches of snow, still under blizzard warning.

it's still just windy enough for blizzard conditions. we have an incredible snow band also in northern new york, near watertown. that's just a hose of moisture, about 2 inches an hour now in watertown southwards, and those are the areas that are going to end up with feet of snow. so, this is the map you want to see, the 24-hour temperature change map. we're up eight degrees in d.c. this morning compared to this time yesterday. central plains about 15 to 20 degrees warmer. so, it's still cold at 15 in d.c., 9 in new york, still very cold up there around fargo and minneapolis, but the windchills are not as bad as yesterday morning. we have advisories out there. we don't have a lot of warnings. so, again, it's a bundle up as much as you can day, but it's not as extreme as yesterday. and the january thaw is on its way. it looks like from thursday to saturday, the mild air moves across the country. so, then everyone says, okay, when is the next arctic blast coming? that looks to be about ten days from now, at least, and the possibility. again, ten days out is the long-range forecast, so -- >> so, hopefully it changes

between now and then. >> very well said. >> all right, thank you, bill. it is so cold out there that an escaped prisoner actually surrenders to police to get warm again. plus, solar flares directed at earth cause trouble for some. and shoppers are making a run to the supermarket for velveeta. we'll tell you why. >> mm-mmm. [ male announcer ] we could say a lot about the most track-tested is ever... but the truth is... we don't have to. the experts have spoken. now it's your move. ♪

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some stories making news this morning. a u.s. air force helicopter crashed in an east england bird sanctuary tuesday night, killing the four crew members on board. it's still not known what caused that deadly crash. president obama will be meeting with members of congress and the intelligence community to discuss the growing outrage over the nsa's spying methods. mr. obama plans on announcing reforms to the nation's spy agencies in the weeks leading up to his january 28th state of the union address. cancer deaths are on the decline, according to the american cancer society. that's good news. americans now have a 20% reduced risk of dying from cancer compared to 20 years ago, and this is across all ages and

races. radio equipment went haywire tuesday when the sun erupted with a powerful solar flare, sending electrically charged particles to earth. now time to get down to business, news, that is. the folks at cpr cell phone report that persistent exposure to the cold will actually damage your lcd screen, scramble the motherboard and hurt other internal components. they say 32 degrees is the limit for iphones, while samsung's smartphones can be operated down to negative 4 degrees. all right, listen up, velveeta shortage. yep. kraft is warning customers that the orangey processed cheese-like product, whatever that is, is in short supply. the company says it's a short-term issue combined with increased seasonal demand that's causing the shortage. so, stock up, if you can. speaking of stocking up, overstock.com has become the first major online retailer to allow consumers to buy its products with the digital

currency known as bitcoin. pot farm frenzy. over 2,600 applications have been filed in washington state to produce marijuana for sale at state-licensed stores. now, this is about ten times as many applications as were expected. the "wall street journal" reports that beef prices hit a record high last week. the price hike comes from ranchers who reduced their herds in face of higher corn prices. all right, people will be talking about this today. former defense secretary gates launches a full throttle attack of the obama administration and others, but why? plus, republicans are sending out talking points on how to be compassionate and empathetic when voting against unemployment benefits for millions of americans? and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts,

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i've dropped my tea into the boston harbor. huhh... i guess this party's over. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. now here's your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." the senate was barely able to clear a first hurdles on extending unemployment benefits, but senator jeff merkley tells our rachel maddow that just because six republicans decided to move forward doesn't mean you'll see their support later. >> i hope citizens across the country will weigh in heavily about how outrageous it is to shut down this bush-era, bipartisan program that's carefully calibrated to increase the number of unemployment weeks during periods of high unemployment state by state. very carefully calculated. it should absolutely go forward, but we're not close to getting it done. >> but just because you won't

see support doesn't mean you won't see compassion. listen to this. house republicans actually sent out this memo designed to help rank and file members show sympathy for the unemployed. it was obtained by the "washington post." members of the gop are urged to be empathetic toward the jobless and understand how unemployment is a "personal crisis for individuals and families." a dream is now a reality in new jersey. governor chris christie ceremoniously signed the state's dream act tuesday. it provides instate college tuition for children of the undocumented, but those students are required to have spent at least three years in a new jersey high school and graduated with a degree. meanwhile, in georgia, one man not trying to woo over potential citizens is congressman paul broun. he is the congressman we can thank for controversial comments like that obama mandates sex changes and saying the earth is 9,000 years old. well, he's now running for the

state's open senate seat. and although he's up against a top democrat, he says there's only one way republicans will lose. >> it only helps the democrats if we legalize all these illegal aliens in this country. the democrats want to make them all basically sdpent upon the federal government so they can continue their radical, big government agenda. florida republican congressman trey radel is back on capitol hill after completing a stint in rehab for admitted cocaine use, but a pending ethics investigation may be the least of his worries. his first primary challenger has already jumped in the race. state lawmaker paige preegal says southwest florida deserves "serious, sober representation." and skiers won't be the only thing hitting the slopes at next month's winter olympics. ads promoting obamacare will also be there. the department of health and human services is buying time in

markets with high rates of uninsured americans. and that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." all right, time now for your first look at politics and the explosive, new memoir by former defense secretary robert gates. joining me from washington is "washington post" reporter ed o'keefe. ed, good morning to you. >> great to see you. >> all right, let's get to it. there is some serious criticism of president obama and his administration in this book. are you surprised that a former defense secretary would lodge such detailed complaints about a sitting president that he served under? >> no surprise that a former government official would try to make some money selling a memoir where he raises some significant concerns. i think what surprises people and what makes bob gates's comments a little more hefty, if you will, or explosive, as you put it, is that this is a guy who sort of had a above-the-fray reputation here in washington. he worked for democrats and republicans. he's been widely respected and closely watched by members of both parties. and he really let them have it. >> yeah, so why?

why now? why this? >> well, you know when you work for eight presidents and you've been in this town as long as he has, certainly he had a few things to get off his chest. >> apparently. >> and that's definitely what happened here. his criticisms of the president and the vice president, especially, quite stinging, but also says a lot of things about lawmakers, and that a lot of these people don't seem to understand military policy, how it works, that they're more interested in scoring sound bites and political points than really understanding the cost of war. i think he's just as sharp about congress as he's the president and vice president. >> indeed. so, let's get to some of the details because he writes that obama didn't believe in his own strategy in afghanistan and was convinced that it would fail. that is a huge statement, given there were tens of thousands of u.s. troops in that country. what kind of political ramifications do you see arising from all of this? >> well, i think it will definitely fuel the fire of those especially concerned about what's going on in iraq right now. a lot of americans concerned the u.s. pulled out prematurely and didn't leave enough of a force there to help the iraqi government, so i think that will be seized upon.

i think it will raise questions about whether or not the president really understands military policy but the sacrifice of those that served in iraq and afghanistan. and certainly i think will have repercussions for 2016 if either the vice president or former secretary of state hillary clinton get involved in that race, because he raises some questions about their motives, whether they truly understood the situation and their respect for military leaders. >> oh, he raises a lot of questions, and we will be talking about this, i imagine -- >> for sure. >> -- for a little while. ed, thank you so much for your insight today. >> great to be with you. "first buzz" is up next, and we're going to tell you why this escaped inmate opted for the big house, and the odd things that are being added to road salt to make it work in the extreme cold. ♪

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time now for "first buzz," or as bill calls it, first brrrr, because it's so cold outside. >> oh, don't -- >> we all have cold-weather stories. we'll start with you. >> and there's a silver lining to this cold weather, because there was a man in kentucky, a ja jailbird, a man in prison. he managed to escape. temperatures were so cold, getting into the single digits, he pulled into a motel, asked the clerk to call jail, he wanted to go back because he was so freezing. >> take me back where it's warm! >> he didn't look at the forecast before that. >> right. >> well, hey, if they were out on the frozen roadways, we've got some new items that some of the states are using to actually add to that salt to make sure it sticks, because below 16 degrees, did you know, bill -- >> i did. >> -- that salt doesn't really work as well. so, states like new york, pennsylvania, milwaukee, they're using things like cheese brine, sugar beet juice. >> never heard of that. i knew beet juice was popular -- >> molasses, potato juice --

>> potato juice, huh? >> things to mix with the salt to make sure it stays on the roadway. sounds tasty. >> i know cheese is five times as pricey as salt. >> some places they have in surplus, so -- >> a lot of them do the chemicals on the main roads because they can't afford it on every road. >> how does that look with the cheese brine and the beef juice -- >> it's definitely not red. we don't want the roadways to look bloodied, right? that would be scary. but you have something very cool for us. >> it's either really great or really never going to work, but i almost lost a texting finger yesterday. this is the texting mitten. now, it's all connected. it's like a unimitten. >> yeah. >> and you can clearly, you know, you can easily see what you're doing -- >> oh, cool. >> of course, ignore the green grass behind the promotional picture, but this is meant for, like, days we're having today. >> it looks like something an astronaut would use. >> but the problem is, you can't walk or -- >> or shake anyone's hand. >> well, that's fine, but as far as if you slip on some ice.

>> you don't like people, do you? >> i wish i had thought of that. >> but where do you carry it? >> 30 bucks. >> wow. >> interesting stuff there. thank you for watching us. we had a great show today. appreciate you being here. stay tuned because "first look" on msnbc and "way too early," in fact, starts right now. you're not only one of the longest serving secretaries of defense in american history, but it is also clear that you've been one of the best. >> i'm deeply honored and moved. >> and now the former defense secretary has been moved to write a book. and in it, he is not so kind to the sitting president and several others in the current white house. we'll have some of the most provocative elements of the robert gates tell all. in baseball, the hall of fame vote is out today, and some guys not linked to steroids are expected to make it, and of course, we find out if there's any softening to the attitudes toward guys like barry bonds, who are linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

and 2-pack could have starred in an iconic hollywood movie. the role he auditioned for before his death in this morning's edition of "way too early." good morning, everybody. brian shactman here on january 8th. if you're a "house of cards" fan, hang on, we have a great trailer for season two later in "the cooler." also, troubling story about velveeta. might not have enough for the nfl playoffs. trouble. we'll have that for you in a few minutes, but we want to start with some serious stuff with the weather. again this morning, 20 degrees never sounded so good. i actually woke up this morning to about 5 in northwest new jersey, but relief is on the way to much of the country after the coldest day in decades. temperatures will pick up after a chilling polar vortex, as we're now calling it, left at least 21 people dead across the united sta