they are facing decades in jail for accepting more than $140,000 in loans and gifts. mcdonnell yesterday owned up to accepting the gifts but called the charges, "unjust overreach." >> while i deeply regret accepting these legal gifts and loans from mr. williams, all of these now have been returned or repaid with interest. i have apologized for my poor judgment, and i accept full responsibility for accepting these legal gifts and loans. however, i repeat again emphatically that i did nothing illegal. >> meantime, in new jersey, chris christie was sporn into office yesterday amid a state investigation of lane closures at the george washington bridge and new questions about the use of aid money from superstorm sandy. last night, interestingly

enough, former virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli called for christie to resign as head of the republican governors' association. >> i think just from the perspective of setting aside this as an issue in other races, it makes sense for him to step aside in that role. he does not serve the goals of that organization by staying as chairman. and that doesn't mean any of the charges, political or otherwise, are substantiative or not, it doesn't matter. perception is reality. >> let's dig deeper into the bob mcdonnell indictment. we bring in nbc's casey hunt into our studio. great to see you. >> great to see you. >> we are always on remote, now we're here together, which is nice. listen, first break down what's going on and what's next for the former governor. before we get into some of the larger fall from grace issues, what is he specifically dealing with? >> so this is a 14-count indictment and they are corruption charges, they allege

he accepted gifts, luxury travel, golf fees, a rolex from johnny williams, who is the head of a company called star scientific. they have a drug that, you know, mcdonnell hosted an event for as part of his governorship, and williams has been granted immunity in this case. together, he and his wife are facing up to 30 years in prison. >> williams supposedly giving the federal government information on the relationship and whether mcdonnell helped him with his business in exchange for these gifts. >> right. the indictment is detailed and the information they have, e-mails with the former first lady of virginia writing we are broke, so much credit card debt, we really need to get out of this. there's a lot of potentially difficult information there. >> mcdonnell is a former prosecutor, right. he knows the deal with the legalities here. from where you sit, what do you think the odds he goes to prison? this is decades, a lot of money in fines, what do you think is going to happen in the long run, obviously, you don't know how things are going to proceed.

>> we're at the early stages of this process, obviously. he's been aggressive in saying these gifts were legal, and virginia has actually very sort of lax -- >> i was surprised, they let a lot of this stuff happen. >> one thing terry mcauliffe was rewrite the gift laws and say he was going to abide by accepting much smaller donations. mcdonnell was obligated to disclose any gifts over $50, but he could accept whatever that was, and part of his defense has been his family members accepted gifts that weren't disclosed, so money for his daughter's wedding, and that's sort of what's roped maureen mcdonnell into this. >> you saw him on the road with romney, what was consider sense of him as a person, a politician, was there a big difference between public bob mcdonnell and private? >> so this is a stunning fall from grace. this is somebody who was on the vp short list, or at least the v.p. long list for mitt romney and he spent a lot of time on romney's plane. he flew, we did a lot of events

in virginia, especially up to the close of election day. the mcdonnell we got to know in private, very, you know, he's an authentic guy, he very much enjoyed -- he and romney seemed to have a good rapport, his staff had a good rapport with reporters flying on the plane, but if they had known anything, knowing how romney's campaign was then, there's no way if they had knowledge of this they would have been so publicly close. >> kasie, thank you very much, appreciate it. joining me now, karen finney, host of msnbc's "disrupt," and larry savato. they are not the only gop stars losing their lust and we want to talk about what's left in the bull pen here. rand paul had the plagiarizing scandal. we saw what happened with paul ryan, he did make a budget deal that was claimed to be bipartisan. it's early to say who's going to go against hillary, but what's left here? >> i think we have to remember

there's a lot of time for these guys, particularly with regard to christie, there's a lot of time for more to come out, but a lot of time for him to get to the other side of that, potentially, depending what comes out. for mcdonnell, it's sort of game, set, match, over, because the nature of the allegations. the problem is not just whether it's legal or illegal, it's so unseemly and such a bad, you know, bad character, bad judgment to think that that was okay, while you're then espousing, and this is one of the things conservatives do that's so frustrating, then espousing, you know, this very self righteous rhetoric as governor. it's so incongruent, you can't really come back from that. >> you know, larry, what did you take away from ken cuccinelli, you know, he didn't get a lot of support from christie in his run for virginia governor. sort of out of left field. he's not really an insider, so will his comments have any impact here? >> well, as we always say,

revenge is a dish best served cold, and the election is well over, but i suspect that cuccinelli had a good day yesterday. he got to stick it to chris christie, who would not appear for him during the recent gubernatorial campaign in virginia, and, of course, cuccinelli personally blames bob mcdonnell and his giftgate scandal for cuccinelli's loss. i happen to think there were other reasons for the loss, but no question mcdonnell's giftgate scandal hurt cuccinelli. i don't know there's much more to it than that. >> karen, we have the state of the union coming up, and it seems like maybe not a lot of people will want to give the republican response this time around. take a look at the last few years, in '09, bobby jindal, he's doing fine, but in terms of a national figure, maybe he's not quite considered the way he once was. 2010 was bob mcdonnell, and in '11, paul ryan. of course, he lost as a v.p.

candidate, 2012, mitch daniels, and marco rubio in 2013, still reaching for water is maybe the beginning of the water loop for him. out of that group, paul ryan seems like the only one in good shape nationally. >> potentially, although the republican party, their message has been governors is really the place where invention is happening and great ideas is happening, so a couple of those governors clearly off the list at this point, but they'd do well to find a governor rather than a member of congress, who, you know, another sort of rising star if they can find that, because i think at this point the challenge that they have is, what ideas are they going to talk about? repealing obamacare only gets you so far, but what are your positive, proactive ideas, and you know the president is going to lay out a vision, ideas, and kind of a future. so if your response is, we're going to get up here and just repeal all of that, that's not a good national message going into an election season. >> larry, from a republican

perspective, what do you think is left that's viable? you hear a lot of people say i won't vote for a member of congress again when it comes to the presidency. >> look, as karen said, it's two years away. just the nominating process, almost three years to the general election, so who the heck knows? but, you know, just playing off what karen said, if i were picking for the republicans, i'd pick governor susanna martinez of new mexico. woman, first latina governor of the united states, he's not running for president, probably a candidate for vice president. >> good point, obviously, you check off a lot of boxes that the republicans are trying to appeal to. they are saying they want to appeal to. guys, we appreciate it. university of virginia's larry sabato and msnbc's karen finney. "disrupt with karen finney" saturday afternoons. football's over, 4:00 p.m.,

you're going to get a big pop this weekend. >> thanks, brian. back to the developing news on msnbc. the huge storm stretching about 1,000 miles from kentucky to new england, it's created a bit of a mess this morning and any parent knows they have to make alternative plans for their children. in massachusetts, near whiteout conditions and on top of that, extremely cold conditions making it harder for crews to clear this up. traditionally, salt doesn't melt ice when the mercury falls below 15 degrees, but trivia question, you know what does? beet juice, but it's more expensive. it's true, we learned this on "way too early." drivers have had to deal with this the last 24 hours. >> crazy, cars stuck in the middle, cars stuck on the side. >> no plows from the city out here. it's ridiculous. >> i had no problems all the way down the road until i got here, then it just wasn't nothing i could do. >> if you're traveling by air, well, it's even worse. thousands of flights were delayed or cancelled yesterday,

creatings a backup today. let's go live to nbc's ron allen in hard-hit philly. we hear 14 inches, at least you got some sun there, ron. how are the roads and how cold is it? >> yeah, i got some sun here. that's about the minimal thing i've got here. the wind just started gusting up as we were standing here waiting for you to come to us. we're standing on the steps of the old famous art museum and you can perhaps see the wind gusting. i don't know if we can pan up and see it, but there's -- the temperature is about 4 or 5 degrees, wind chill takes it below zero. that's center city in the distance. you can see the roads are barren, bit of a ghost town, there's nothing happening here. the school is closed, government is closed, most businesses have told people to work from home if they can. >> watch out behind you, you have runners coming your way. >> hearty souls doing the rocky run up the stairs. i'm not sure what they've been on this morning or eating this morning, but they have a lot of energy.

more energy than certainly i do. >> you should have grabbed them. >> it's that kind of day here in philadelphia. it's record snowfalls. you have 13 feet, 13 inches, sorry, just above a foot. in some areas, as much as 14 1/2 inches. some suburbs, as much as 16 inches. all kinds of records for snowfall and now today it's about the cold because the cold weather has set in. again, here you go. philadelphia, ghost town, our friends over there are recovering from their run, celebrating, quite an achievement. i wouldn't want to run up the stairs right now. >> ron, thank you very much. take a look at the left side of your screen, looks like a weather-related accident. be careful, folks, even if you have an suv, you can get in an accident. ron allen live for us in philadelphia. would have liked to see how the rocky balboa statue is doing on this wednesday. still ahead, the committee investigating new jersey governor chris christie and the closures on the george

washington bridge. is it really a bipartisan effort? i'll ask that question and more to the man who represents ft. lee new jersey, next. also, 41 years since roe v. wade. is the landmark ruling more vulnerable than ever? our agenda will weigh in and we'll talk to the president of naro. that also leads to the big question, which side is winning the war over a woman's right to choose? weigh in on twitter or on facebook. first, did you guys hear about this? cnbc has learned bernie madoff had a heart attack last month, briefly hospitalized, but is now back in prison. cnbc also reporting madoff has stage four kidney disease. he's serving a 150-year prison sentence for running the largest investment fraud in the history of this country. we'll be right back. s! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ]

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we are following several developments sounding new jersey governor chris christie. virginia's former attorney general, a republican, says christie should step down as the chair of the republican governors association, but a new jersey mayor, a democrat, throwing more support behind christie, saying he'd be a great president. meantime, a joint super committee is forming to investigate allegations surrounding the administration as governor christie begins his second term in office. joining me now, democratic journey assemblyman, gordon johnson, whose district includes ft. lee, a member of the panel investigating christie and may be named to the new committee. assemblyman, symbolic protest you wouldn't cross the bridge? >> no, no, little too early, we chose to do it here. >> which is very nice. >> yeah, cnbc, say hello to my

old friends. assemblyman, this panel is going to have eight democrats, four republicans, co-chaired by john wisniewski and loretta weinberg. the republicans are criticizing the makeup of this, especially the 8-4 breakdown. senator minority leader tom keene says i'm glad the majority party realized there needs to be a joint committee, but to be truly bipartisan, it should have a more equitable member mix. is that a fair criticism? >> i don't think it's a fair criticism. we're all in the legislature to work for our constituents and provide good government. we have an incident here that appears to be an abuse of power that has occurred, which has victimized the taxpayers and common people of new jersey, so i think the breakdown -- and we just want to get to the truth, so i think the breakdown is fair and should not be a factor in this. >> all right, ken cuccinelli down in virginia says that christie should step down as

head of the rga. we have these investigations. are you concerned at all about his ability to lead the state while dealing with all this stuff? >> i think it probably could be considered a distraction, however, we have three branches of government, of course, judicial is not involved in this, but the legislative branch and executive branch working together can be assured that we will do all we can to assure government continues and that their needs are met and that we meet our obligations as elected officials. >> talking about the partisan element here, i want to get to brian stack of union city, the mayor there, who's a democrat. he believes christie, he says, when christie said he had no knowledge of what his aides were doing when it came to the bridge scandal, i want you to listen what he said about supporting christie for president. >> i'd be inclined to support the governor. but i think right now his job has got to be focused on new jersey. i don't think the president should even come up right now. >> he says the governor has been

as responsive as anyone he's worked with. what are your thoughts on what he said? >> senator stack is entitled to his opinion. i believe you talk to some people in the burough of ft. lee and traverse the bridge every day when stuck in the week of gridlock and traffic chaos caused by someone in the governor's inner circle, they'd probably disagree with senator stack. >> gordon johnson, we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> all right. fear is rising about security in and around sochi and that's prompting russia to take unprecedented steps. we'll have the latest on new threats today and a hunt for black widows and a new request for the u.s. to help the russian government. a winter wallop up and down the east coast, mike seidel will join me. we'll be back.

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you know a terrorist threat is significant when headstrong russian president vladimir putin considers help from the united states. despite assurances from russia this year's winter games will be the most secure in olympic history, there is word the top military general now requesting specialized bomb equipment from the u.s. military. meantime, one of four black widows considered a threat inside russia is believed to be dead, while the hunt is on for the others. two men are also wanted by russian authorities, who expect they could attempt an attack next month. nbc's michelle kusinski following from london. there's new information about letters being sent to specific olympic delegates, as well, and they contain threats. >> yeah, several national olympic committees now, including the u.s., have gotten what's believed to be the same e-mail from someone. some have described it as a sort of warning, others have described it as a threat. it's believed to be written in

broken english, from what people are saying. the germans, for example, describe this e-mail as saying words to the effect of be careful in sochi, but the hungarians said it's hungarian athletes and people, their lives are in danger if they go to sochi. bottom line, though, the international olympic committee is saying this is not a credible threat and they describe it as just a random message from a member of the public. who this is, though, and why they would be sending this, no one is saying at this point, brian. >> right. what about the chase for these women, and also i want to talk about it seems from previous conversations, you know, to be a threat in sochi, they really had to go in a while ago to get inside that ring of steel, but just talk about the women they are after. >> one of them is what they call a black widow, a widow of an insurge insurgent, she has a big scar on her face. i mean, they put out this mug

shot that was pretty terrifying in its details alone, saying she could be plotting an attack, she's believed to be already in sochi, and the other women are also militants possibly linked through their husbands to such attacks in the past. we don't know that many details about them but know russian authorities are also looking for two men, so we have pictures of actually suspects that security forces are seeking in that area. >> nbc's michelle kusinski, we appreciate it, live for us in london. let's take a look at some of the other stories topping the news now. nsa leaker edward snowden categorically denied he was spying for or with russia's help. in an interview, snowden said when he took classified u.s. intelligence, he clearly worked alone, with no help from anyone. president obama and pope francis expected to talk about income inequality and poverty, topics close to both of their hearts when they meet for the first time in march. the president will stop for a visit during a four-day trip to europe. classes cancelled today at

purdue university as police investigate a motive in yesterday's deadly shooting there. the suspect, 23-year-old teaching assistant cody cousins, is accused of shooting a colleague before calmly surrendering to police. a hearing resumed last hour in an effort to clear the name of george stinney jr. he was the 14-year-old executed in 1944 for the murder of two girls. stinney's surviving siblings testified their brother was with them the day of the crime and couldn't be guilty. they are asking a judge for a retrial in the 70-year-old conviction. and a warning for you here. this video, it's a little disturbing. it's footage from a small airport in aspen, colorado, capturing the moment a plane crashed and exploded. this happened on january the 5th, you might recall. the ntsb is still investigating what caused this crash that killed the co-pilot. two others survived, but were injured. [ yodeling plays ]

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on this 41st anniversary of the supreme court's historic roe v. wade decision, bitter snow and cold not keeping protesters off the national mall. taking place years after the year when some 24 states passed 53 restrictive abortion laws, that's a whopping 205 laws in just the last three years, which is more for perspective here than all the restrictive laws passed in the last decade. and as the republican national committee holds its winter meeting today in d.c., chair reince priebus said, "we thought it only fitting our members attend the march." joining me to discuss, elise rogge, president of naral, who came out with a new report on reproductive rights, elise, thanks for coming on the show. >> thanks for having me, brian. >> rick santorum, eric cantor, they are going to be there, along with a handful of republican congressmen.

organizers say they are not going to give long speeches, they are going to try to join on social media and get hip, i guess. what's the impact of the march for life? does it have one? >> well, i mean, i think it's clear that they felt the need to cater to this extreme piece of their base, and, in fact, if you can read the tea leaves, 2014 is going to be more of the same in terms of catering to that base. the good news is that we know that the majority of americans support the case and are sick of our political debate being dominated by what most people accept as civil law. we'd like to have a conversation about a real women's agenda that supports women throughout our lifetime, both when we are not ready to be parents, but also when we are, and that's nowhere on the gop's agenda. >> how do you reconcile all these laws are getting passed at the state level, yet the public sentiment is what it is?

>> yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? i think what we're seeing is the culmination of three decades of strategy by anti-choice minority. they were very savvy about taking over state houses, leveraging redistricting to their benefit in the house of representatives, and definitely paying attention to judicial nominees. the good news is, 70% of americans actually support the rights enshrined in roe and we're starting to see the momentum shift back in our direction. we saw it in 2013 with the virginia governor's race, where 20% of voters said they voted for mcauliffe on this issue. we saw it in albuquerque, where we soundly defeated the first municipal ballot initiative on an abortion ban, and i think we're going to see more of that pro choice majority mobilizing in 2014. >> it's funny, the republicans are sort of changing their rhetorical angle on this. i want to get to a couple things, the president did release a statement saying, "we recommit ourselves to the

decisions guiding principle that every woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and health." meanwhile, the debate has taken over greater meaning in the midterms and you just touched on it, there are red state democrats up for re-election and hoping the success in virginia will come true again in coming november. meanwhile, republicans, they are trying to reframe this debate. they want to make it an economic issue, even target obamacare and make it, you know, financial so it doesn't look like it's a social issue. is this a concern in terms of this little shift in how they talk about it? >> no, i actually, you know, look, we agree. reproductive freedom is ground zero for women's ability to determine our economic security. there is nowhere in the world that you see a place that doesn't have access for women to family planning that does well on any other socioeconomic factor, and women in this country experience it the same. the gop is wildly out of step.

i said this morning in politico, they are not antiabortion, they are antiwomen living any kind of life that is different from the one they determine. that's why they vote against contraception and comprehensive sex ed. if they were antiabortion, they would support the education we know give women to make decisions about our reproductive freedom. we believe when we expose the fact they also vote against helping throw-income women who are parents, that we'll see that not only are they out of step on these issues, but they are out of step on the real economics that allow women to get ahead in this country. >> one thing that is amazing in all this, 41 years later, it's still a huge battleground issue and a lot of people had hoped that it wasn't. naral president ilyse hogue, we

appreciate the time. >> thank you. i'd like to bring in today's agenda panel. erin carmone and sa bree ya. sabrina, i want to start with you. the huff post just came out with a new poll for the anniversary of roe v. wade. give us a few of the highlights maybe what was surprising here. >> sure. well, we have a new poll done in collaboration with u-gov that shows while americans continue to be evenly split how they view abortion from a ideological perspective, few americans don't believe the government has a place in determining abortion. 64% of responds said that decisions on abortion should be made between a woman and her doctor, whereas just 24% of respondents said if the government has a right or obligation to pass restrictions on abortion. moreover, only 35% of

respondents said they'd favor congress passing new restrictions on abortion. while it's true republicans have a state-level advantage that's enabled them to pass a growing number of laws that would restrict women's access to abortion across the country, those views are increasingly out of step with the american public. >> let's build on this, msnbc.com has graphics with some of these statistics, one compares abortion laws in the year 2000 compared to 2013. the dark color represents states most hostile to abortion rights and you can see it's about doubled. as we've talked about, more people want the government to stay out of this issue. i'm asking the same question, why is this happening? >> right, i think ilyse mentioned there has been a strategy. a lot of places in which the antiabortion movement first tried, especially at the supreme court, it failed. what they realized is the supreme court did open the door for them to pass a certain number of restrictions that would place roadblocks in

women's ways. even in states where it's technically legal, there are all sorts of restrictions that fall into an area where abortion is local but onerous and difficult, particularly for low-income women, women that live in remote places, so i think they are realizing that with federal gridlock, with a certain limit to what they can do from the court's perspective, there's a lot that they can do to make life more difficult for women seeking abortions. >> vicki, i don't know if you saw this, but also a louisville radio station reporting republican state rep joe fischer amended a bill, saying abortion is, "the most brutal form of domestic violence." how do you react to that? >> you know, brian, abortion, like with most issues, is a local issue. again, echoing what irin said, and what we need to do going

forward is slug it out at the state level. i think democrats sometimes tend to not focus so much on the midterm elections and we see our big turnouts for our presidential elections, especially among latinos and youth. so if we want to see the essence of roe v. wade recaptured, we need to start at the state house level and we need to uber mobilize these constituencies that don't tend to turn out, because this is the only way we're going to have a blockade towards the infringement of choice rights. >> i could talk more about this, but i want to take a bit of a turn, because it's obviously related. at least one of you mentioned how out of touch you think the republican party is. sabrina, i'll put it to you, how is the republican party going to appeal to more contemporary women with this kind of stance? how are they going to win those votes? >> i think the republican national committee is certainly talked about the need to appeal to women at the same time they are also considering a

resolution this week that would urge candidates to stand their ground on abortion and defend their position on abortion. with respect to congressional republicans, one problem they face is lawmakers are under threat of facing a primary challenge and a very real primary challenge, so that's prevented them from moderating their position on abortion. at the same time, i think they are sort of trying to train their candidates not to at least make comments that would offend women. we've all heard about the training to not talk about rape and come up with other ways to talk about why they are pro life and sort of defend that stance. i don't think we're going to see any shift in policies, certainly not in a midterm election year, which is a turnout election, making sure the base comes out and votes. >> i think the rhetorical change to make it an economic issue as opposed to social, in some ways makes more sense, because when they talk about the social side of it, that's when they get into real trouble, but irin,

americans united for change brought out a tea party score card described as a tool for voters to take republicans accountable for aligning themselves with the tea party and basically it seems like it's another way to get people who are more moderate to not be moderate. it's almost getting impossible for a republican to be in the center, right? >> right. well, i think one way in which our two discussions mesh is that abortion is an issue that they all agree on. they have tactical problems, tactical issues amongst themselves, even some of the quote, unquote, more moderate republicans don't have such ideological differences from the tea partiers. it's more how willing are they to put to a grinding halt the functions of the government, as we saw last year, so i think one of the reasons actually even in the house of representatives, which knows it's going to get roadblocked by the senate and president on many measures, including those restricting a woman's right to choose, is that it's one of the few consensus items in which there isn't a lot of ideological or strategic

disagreement. it's really just a matter of rhetoric and focus. and as for, you know, abortion as an economic issue, which absolutely reproductive freedom is an economic issue, so far all i've really heard from republicans is they think restricting a woman aes access to abortion is going to create more jobs because there's going to be more babies and that's not what i would consider a sound economic theory, but i'm open to being persuaded. >> vicki, you think the republicans, they are not done here, they could get real traction in the midterms, isn't that right? >> you know, with the issue of women, they definitely have a black eye there, but they are going to be trying to distract the general electorate from the issue of women, and i think two of those issues are immigration, where we see some signals that the republican party wants to move forward. of course, it's not going to be a comprehensive reform type of immigration, but some movement. also recent talk about school vouchers and these are two elements george w. bush put in place during the 2000s and was

able to moderate the party. obviously, it's not going to be a 180, but we do see some movement. i think the most important factor is we see some establishment republicans getting ready to play offense toward that tea party extreme. i don't know if it's going to be effective or not, we'll know in march, but we do have the roves and other moderate republicans saying don't keep turning us further right because we're never going to win at the national level. >> i said this before on air when they had the budget deal with paul ryan and boehner slapping back at the tea party, looked like there was an opening there for some moderation, but then it seems like it hasn't gotten momentum. guys, we appreciate it. msnbc contributor victoria soto, msnbc.com's irin carmon. and sebrina. irin will be taking questions at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the anniversary of roe v. wade. submit your questions on msnbc.com.

you want to take part in that for sure. that leads to the answer to today's big question. we had a lot of response. 41 years since roe v. wade, which side is winning the war? sam tweeted, "it's organizations like right to life who are winning, turning policy debate into profiteering." "well, seems to me the left won 41 years ago." and from kelly, "no one is really winning, but i know for sure women are losing in places like texas, losing rights and health care." keep the comments coming, folks, on twitter or facebook. the twitter handle @bshactman. big developments in the debate over same-sex marriage. in florida, six couples have filed suit seeking to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage. the lawsuit claims the ban violates the couples' constitutional rights of equal protection and due process. the aclu is suing utah for

not recognizing same-sex marriage. the lawsuit says the state has put hundreds of couples in legal limbo. same-sex marriage was legal in utah for two weeks before the supreme court called for a halt at the state's request. we'll see how that unfolds and stay on top of it, and we will be right back. e yourselves peop. because this hotel has some amazing.... footwear. and how about the 5 pound barbell at this resort? in to soap? this lodge has some! ...and this hostel has ice cubes! and this hotel has eggs! if you're into it.... we know a place that booking has it. liquid! recreational sand! electric wind! aggressive relaxation! that guy! round things.... tanning apparatus... whatever is going on in here! colorful beverage accessories... ...maximum "plushology"... ...airborne-ness...

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all right. the storm that turned new york's bustling streets into a frozen city also caused this damage. take a look. a huge panel of glass at apple's store in manhattan shattered when a snow plow went right into it. maybe one of the more surprising storm images, but hardly the most troubling. cars losing control, even from low speeds all the way up to new england. the federal government forced to open late today. thousands of flights cancelled or delayed in the last 24 hours, and you know schools cancelled, too. i want to say, this did not stop people in jersey from tubing today, and i will say in the quality of the snow, tubing is your desired option over the

straight sled. stay on top, blow that sucker up and just let it fly. let's go to the weather channel's mike seidel, who's live for us in plymouth, massachusetts, i don't know where he is in relation to the plantation, but it's still snowing for you. is it getting any better? >> you could be a tubing commentator if they ever add that to the olympics, brian. how about that? >> i could be what? >> a tubing commentator at the olympics if they ever have the sport. >> listen, they probably will add it soon and i will be first in line, mike, absolutely. >> there you go. out here, we have the same snow consistency, very dry and powdery. our temperatures have fallen down to 11 here in plymouth, we're on what they call the south shore, about a 45-minute drive from boston on a good day, this is not a good day. the wind chill now, 7 below zero. here in plymouth county, we've had as much as 18 inches of snow, but the visibility is coming up. a lot of plowing and digging out, but not a lot of activity otherwise. very little is opened as far as business. schools are shut down, but the

real issue with all those winds that have been gusting 40 to 45 miles an hour is the drifting snow. this is one of those drifts, all over the place, especially in the areas not blocked by the wind. and look at this. gives you an idea of what's going on with the blowing and drifting. it's going to wrap up pretty soon and temperatures tomorrow morning in boston down around zero. about 20 degrees below average. back to you. >> mike seidel, i hope you have the water-proof pants on. reminds me of the storm of '78 where my babysitter got stuck in a snow bank jumping off the garage roof. i would not advise it. talk to you later. today's producer pick from tracy mitchell, although i think it came from her husband, jamie. how much is a perfect ncaa bracket worth? quicken loans announced a $1 billion march madness contest this week. this is legit, because that man, warren buffett, is backing the price. before you start mentally spending that money, here's the bad news, the odds you'll get

every single game correctly, 1 in 9 quintillion. compare that to being struck by lightning, one in 1,000. how about dying from an astroid strike, 1 in you can try, though. you can learn more about the story by heading to my facebook page, and get ready for march madness. isn't always easy. first, i want a way to help minimize my blood sugar spikes. then, a way to support heart health. ♪ and let's not forget immune support. ♪ but now i have new glucerna advance with three benefits in one. including carbsteady ultra to help minimize blood sugar spikes. it's the best from glucerna. [ male announcer ] new glucerna advance. from the brand doctors recommend most. advancing nutrition for diabetes. from the brand doctors recommend most. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah. everybody knows that. did you know there is an oldest trick in the book?

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anybody out there a fan of the old sitcom "full house"? well, if so, you're in for a treat. the cast of the show reunited for a super bowl ad. danny, uncle joey, uncle jesse all on hand. take a little look. >> whoo! that was a good game. what do you say, boys? time to go to bed? >> don't you think it's time we all get our own places? >> pretty good.

the ad is for dannon's yogurt. let's go north of the border. rob ford back in the news. this time for a new video that appears to show him drunk and slurring words. that tops today's poli side bar. all right, no idea. it shows him at a fast-food restaurant. rambling and incoherent. reporters asked him about it yesterday and here's how he responded. >> were you drinking? >> little bit, yeah. >> do you think that video was offensive to people? >> no, i was with some friends and what i do with my personal life, with my personal friends, that's up to me. >> his brother said he had totally stopped drinking. he did have an outfit that was the same that he wore on monday.

rob ford has refused to step down as mayor of toronto since admitting to smoking crack last year. no more long lines for voting. that was the president's message this morning at a meeting with his commission on election administration. here's what he had to say. >> no american should have to wait more than half an hour to vote. and they should know, they should be confident that their vote is being properly counted and is secure. >> kentucky senator mitch mcconnell out with the first ad of his re-election campaign. it features a kentucky cancer survivor talking about how mcconnell helped him. >> i don't have much of a voice, but i and so many from kentucky have been helped by someone with a strong voice, mitch mcconnell. >> it's a pretty candid behind-the-scenes look at mitt romney's run for president. the director talked about what's in the documentary and what's not on the "today" show this morning.

>> the film doesn't get into things like the 47% remark. it's some of these issues that were political issues in the campaign. was that by design or was that a function of the kind of access that you got? >> well, i felt like my strategy in making the film was to show up and shut up and just film. and the red sox world series trophy makes the rounds in japan. the sox even paid a visit to japan's new ambassador from the u.s., caroline kennedy, who you know, like me, is a sox fan. that wraps it up for me. richard picks it up. we'll be talking about virginia's former governor under indictment and the court documents that contain an embarrassing list of freebies. the first couple allegedly asked a prominent donor to provide. plus, chris christie's first official day of his second term. how much will he really be able to accomplish as a legislative supercommittee looks into the mounting accusations against him

and his administration. and then, a rally and march about to begin in washington to mark the anniversary of roe v. wade 41 years later. the abortion fight has gone from a national war to a state by state fight. i'll talk to terry o'neill, the president of the national organization for women about abortion rights under attack across the country. all that in three minutes. e new. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] don't wait for awesome...

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