i'm craig melvin. we start with that storm that is slicing across a swath of the northeast at this very moment, already fouling travel plans for thousands. let's get straight to bill karins with the latest. what are we seeing right now and when is it going to stop, sir? the back edge will come through mid to late afternoon, then the evening commute, hopefully the plows do their jobs and everything will be okay. right now we're seeing this really heavy wet snow and the airports are a disaster. three hours at laguardia, two and a half at jfk. we've had almost 1500 flights canceled already today. the blue on this map inside the white. the white is the snow and green is the rain. inside the blue it's snowing heavy, from philadelphia to trenton right into new york city, that's been the heart of this. baltimore and city, just wet roads for you, even if you are seeing snow flakes, maybe an

inch or two at the tail end in baltimore. as far as snow totals, we'll end up at least 6 inches in central park. already we don't have time to get prepare for the next one because it's already here. winter storm warnings up for kansas, this is tuesday and wednesday. this area of blue and pink is of concern and when i show you this map, this will be one of the wider reaching winter storms we've had this winter with the winter storm first in kansas as we go through tuesday and tuesday afternoon and evening through the ohio valley, we'll see significant icing and could have freezing rain problems along the ohio river and the same areas we're looking at right now from philly to new york city will get another probably six inches of snow mixed with sleet and freezing rain. we'll do it all over again in 48 hours. this one also looks to hit new england harder. they kind of got spared on this one. we're waiting to see what happens. there's a possible coastal storm, maybe like a nor'easter sunday into monday. we could be talking about some

areas that could get a winter's worth of snow in one week. and that includes new york city. >> bill karins, with absolutely no good news. >> sorry. >> do appreciate that. thank you, bill. >> to politics now, chris christie is getting some love from conservatives, specifically an invitation from the organizers of a major conservative conference who snubbed him the previous year. >> good afternoon, everybody, you've already heard enough speeches and enough speeches of the same thing. >> not much love on saturday when new jersey's governor met with a few boos and years during a presuper bowl festivity in new york city. that came a day after another aide resigned. and a day after the lawyer for the former port authority aide, a man chris christie has known since high school dropped what could become a bombshell. evidence exists tieing mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were

closed. contrary to what the governor stated publicly. christie continues to deny he knew about the lane closures as they were happening and as people fought back with allegations of their own about wild stein and letter to supporters those allegations include that wildstein once sued over a school board election that he had been accused in high school by a teacher of deceptive behavior that wildstein's tenure in livingston was controversial and an anonymous blogger and he will do and say anything to save david wildstein. one legislator has his own ideas. >> as opposed to say i have documents or i have an e-mail, it's a curious choice of words, which maybe he knows somebody else that has information, maybe this is conversation he had.

maybe this is something else that is not within the scope of the subpoena the commit issued. it raises questions about what did he have and why doesn't the committee have it. >> ron allen is in trenton, new jersey on this snowy afternoon there. ron, let's pick up where we left off. are wildstein or christie's people saying anymore about this evidence at this point? >> no, craig, not today. the governor is keeping a low profile. it's a very snowy day here. we're not sure if he's in his office or not. it's a good day to work for home if you work for state government. he has a radio show later at 7:00. unclear if he'll continue to go after wildstein as was the case over the weekend with that e-mail letter to his supporters. it's clear he has his sights on wildstein because he is perhaps one of the key figures in this particular back and forth. and as you pointed out, the question is what does he -- what

is this evidence? why doesn't the committee have it? he already has given it hundreds and pages and there's something that exists that incriminates and catches the governor in a lie. you would think he would put that forward. today is the deadline for 20 people or so subpoenaed to provide thousands upon thousands of pages of documents, e-mails and text messages looking into this whole bridge scandal. most of them are asking for extensions and will be granted extensions sort of the normal course of business, which means that will continue to go on day by day. there will be more leaks and rumors and statements by people. as you might imagine, everyone is jockeying for position. many perhaps negotiating or discussing immunity or some limited form of immunity with prosecutors and that seems to be what mr. wild stein is doing. the governor is here hunkered down trying to attend to the business of the state. all of this has become a huge distraction, any time he's in

public like during the super bowl weekend, he's asked about this and asks on everyone's mind. it's going to be with governor christie for some time and it will be interesting to see how he deals with it going forward. >> subpoenas again due today. the extensions that have been requested, are those fairly customariry? is that something that usually happens in situations like this? >> yeah, very customary you're talking about people who have been asked to provide thousands and thousands of pages of documents. it's the course of normal business. we don't know who asked for an extension of what amount. they won't reveal that. they'll perhaps have a better tally at the end of the day. this is going to go on for some time. it's unclear when any of these documents will become public or when they'll be leaked, perhaps because remember, the real smokey gun if you will, memo, about time for problems in ft.

lee, that was all from documents that were part of a subpoena process by another committee. that's why there's so much attention focused on this now. and of course, we're talking about a huge treasure troef of information that might get to the bottom of what actually happened. there's still so many unanswered questions especially from the governor and others, how did this begin? when did he know? he says he didn't know until after the lane closures were over. so again, a lot of people think this isn't just sound believable for someone in his position given how many of his aides were intimately involved in all of this. that's his story and again, we'll have to see. if he's caught in a lie if there's some untruth in anything he said or publicly since then, he's got a big problem. >> so we wait. ron allen in trenton, new jersey. ron, thank you. coming up, pregame grilling. we're going to talk about the president's at times contentious

interview before the super bowl hitting on a wide range of not so new topics. the power panel is assembling here at 30 rock on a very, very snowy monday afternoon. we're going to talk to them about chris christie as well and whatever else the power panel wants to hit on. come back. i need proof of insurance. that's my geico digital insurance id card - gots all my pertinents on it and such. works for me. turn to the camera. ah, actually i think my eyes might ha... next! digital insurance id cards. just a tap away on the geico app. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, it does make a sound? ohhh...ugh. geico. little help here.

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it's more than that, susan rice goes out and tells the world it was a spontaneous demonstration off a videotape but your commanders and secretary of defense know it's a terror attack. >> bill, bill -- i'm trying to explain it to you if you want to

listen. >> the $48 super bowl sunday featureed plenty of hard knocks off the field. the president sat down with bill o'reilly for tough questions, everything from benghazi, to tea party groups. i want to bring in susan del percio and josh barrow, business insider. let me is a with you, susan, what did we learn that was new? >> i think they had a new news pact going on for that interview. >> it seemed like a wasted opportunity. >> the same for the president. the president could have really stepped up his game too and he didn't. it seemed they both went through the motions and we heard the same old questions and same old responses. >> it seemed like it was an interview that was perhaps designed for the base. >> absolutely, bill o'reilly and the base of the republican party live on another planet and so i think that's where the questions

were form ulated, the irs and benghazi have been thoroughly debunked and the insistence that president obama is imperial president, sort of reinforcing that theme for the base, i mean it's going to help the base and perhaps right wing republicans but it won't help anyone get elected in a national election. >> i thought it was a very strange refleks of what topics were important. seven of the minutes were spent on the irs and benghazi, then the discussion of the health care website, nothing about the economy -- >> nothing. >> i think it is reflective of topics -- >> issues on iran, nothing. >> it is reflective on topics discussed on fox every day and topics that conservatives feel are underdiscussed in the media. they have a chip on their shoulder about the idea that benghazi is being ignored by the media. i don't think o'reilly would say these are the only topics to discuss. he would say these are the

topics the president doesn't talk about enough. >> the president took hits before that interview on sunday morning shows as well. this is paul ryan making some headlines yesterday. >> we have an increasingly lawless presidency where he is doing the job of congress, writing new policies and new laws without going through congress. president doesn't write laws, congress does. >> a lawless presidency, that's a bold assertion that was overlooked yesterday because of the game perhaps. >> it's a bold assertion and become a key talking point. the electorate cares about the substance of the executive order and maybe they like what the president is doing on exgts pa carbon or not. >> minus pointing out that the president had delay eed a key pt of his own health care law. he didn't cite examples. >> you want to say that you have problems with the way he handled

this, this and this on health care, that's a home run. talking that process doesn't really make that much sense, especially since people expect the president to do anything anyway. he's the president of the united states and can get this done if he wants to. that's why his approval ratings are down so low. it made no sense for them to take that tact to make their point. >> a bowled idea. to go on national television and say, again, this is an imperial president. he's a lawless president and to cite one example -- >> it's just short of calling for impeachment. in the same interview he says i'm not calling for impeachment but that's what they want to get the drum rolling to get to that point. you have steve king saying that -- >> fewer executive orders than any president since grover cleveland. they want to impeach the president and they are saying lawless until it gains more traction. >> i don't think paul ryan --

>> no, not paul ryan but the people in the base, the people in the base. >> i have to go to josh's point, i don't think they are looking to impeach the president -- >> i think they want to stoke that idea in the base of the party who does want to impeach the president and does think he's illegitimate. is he not speaking to this undeniable group of republicans out there who continue to want to -- >> he's also speaking to something the president is actually doing, not about the number of executive orders he issues, particularly on health care, the president had an aggressive approach of delaying or ignoring or waving components of laws. the epa approach on carbon is within the law but very aggressive. he has been trying to find all the ways he can to use executive power. >> because congress won't do anything. >> liberals should think about what it's like to have a republican president taking a similar approach. >> we know what it's like, eight years of it.

>> same approach using on obamacare where he waives things and delays things, a republican president could have used and probably would have used to undermine the law. could have had romney saying i'm going to delay the individual mandate indefinitely because the regulations aren't ready -- >> he didn't get elected because the american people didn't want that. >> i want to talk about something else that folks continue to talk about and will for weeks and months to come. republicans also playing a little defense as well on sunday. this is defending the governor of new jersey, chris christie for calls to step down. >> i don't think he should step down because nothing has been proven. >> i don't think he should step down. >> you always give a person the benefit of the doubt in those kind of situations in my judgment. >> you have paul ryan, bobby jindal, defending chris christie. why stand by chris christie so solidly now as vultures appear to be circling.

>> there's nothing that has been proven that chris christie knew about these lane closures. that being said, he did have a rough week the way he put out that campaign style memo on wildstein on saturday was bizarre. but more importantly -- >> it was beyond bizarre. >> it was beyond bizarre. >> what's -- that's what a lot of folks are pointing to now. >> rga question though, in that it shows his political machine is -- he doesn't have it intact. he probably can't trust it. so how is he going to operate having that lack in his own backyard, how can he move it forward to the rga? the big question for the rga will probably happen in four to six weeks. two things, one will governors and republican candidates stand with chris christie? and two, has the money dried up? >> we know at the end of the day, your second was the most salient, when the money stops

zblsh that's what it's going to take. that's what he really has on the line right now. the chairmanship of the rga. >> the media, the mainstream media, we're used to being attacked. everyone does that to a certain extent. we get that. but to put out that memo, that -- >> that he wrote himself. it seemed like a second grader after school, got together with other second graders. >> i'm willing to bet anything, influential people in his circle stepping up, saying, you know what, you need to debunk this guy and show more strength. he did put out a proper statement on friday. >> you know what, forget it not being presidential, that's not gubernatorial. >> but that also goes to the point that he doesn't have people around him that are willing to call it the way it is and say, no, governor. >> really quickly, we're running out of time. friday the keystone pipe line deal and state department report comes out. how do we think this plays out?

>> i agree with chris hayes on his show did a great segment and i think it's time for the president and other democrats to step and block this thing. we can't really keep having this debate over and over again. we're just stuck in an endless cycle. >> last word. >> it is basically a symbol, zntd affect carbon emissions. if you compared it with a carbon emission policy, it would be appropriate to pursue it. >> susan del percio, this has been delightful. you guys play well together. >> thank you. >> i'm pleasantly surprised. we were very concerned about all three of you sitting together. >> we're scary. >> coming up, the super bowl ad that perhaps unexpectedly is generating the most buzz today. we're going to talk about why. first though -- a live look as some folks not surprisingly decide to leave early there. that's the city of brotherly love, philadelphia. stay with us. if i can impart one lesson to a

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♪ ♪ from sea to shining sea >> that's one of the ads that folks are talking about today. thank goodness they were entertaining because the game certainly was not. from the first snap, it was obvious that something was off with peyton and his broncos never found their footing after the seahawks finished blowing out what had been the most prolific offense. it was the commercials and flat-out fantastic performance by bruno mars that salvaged super bowl sunday. alicia quaurels. >> you're big time now. >> please. >> let's start with the ad

singing "america the beautiful" different languages. some found it moving and others seemed offended by it as seen in this headline here. coca-cola ad celebrates diversity. twitter racists explode. what do you make of the ad? >> i'm showing both sides. i understand where coke is coming from, america is diverse and the landscape has changed, not just about one color or one race. on the flip side, a lot of people are saying in america we speak english so why change it. if you look at the racial makeup of america it is diverse and we speak many different languages like when you go to europe. they speak many. that's what i think coke was trying to display in the ad. you have people that feel strongly and they'll voice it on the twitter verse. >> for me at least, you would think that everything doesn't have to be political.

>> you would think that but we know better. >> it's a cute ad. personally i thought it was a nice ad and this is inclusive and nice and cool. but come on, politics plays into everything. >> some of the other ads, there was that bob dillon ad beyond bizarre. not sure why he's doing tv ads and my personal favorite was the audi ad featuring the doberuaua -- >> i'm sara mclack lynn. >> i don't like the fact it's looking this way. >> save yourselves! >> can't get enough of it. >> this was one of my favorites as well. if you cross breed a doberman and chihuahua. it's funny and everybody is cross breeding and this is the

cross breed gone bad. i want to get back to bob dylan, he's done ads before. think about it, craig, he's done commercials before his sons even using victoria's secret thing. >> it seemed -- >> it seemed odd but people don't realize over the years how many commercials and how much his music has been used. >> the music, yes, commercials notwithstanding, the highlight for me, hands down, bruno mars. >> because the game was so boring. >> even if the became was better. that was probably the best halftime show at least in the last five years. he didn't touch prince obviously. >> he did a phenomenal job being on the field it was different. last year with beyonce the year before madonna, you felt the energy they were so close. this year we're so far away. watching it on tv, he brought it. then the red hot chili peppers and ripped their shirts off,

this is an entertainer, safe for kids to watch and he brought it. >> the one story that almost overshadowed the super bowl, of course the death of 46-year-old philip seymour hoffman. what more do we know about the circumstances surrounding his death? >> screen writer david katz was the one who found him. he was found in his bathroom slumped off, needle in his arm. there were envelopes, he just got out of rehab in may of 2013. i saw him in november at the hunger games premiere. he had battled addiction allegedly since college. so this seems to be a case -- we don't know for sure of an overdose but it's tragic and in the same year as gandolfini, to lose these great actors and he's a father. >> three children. >> people in the neighborhood say they would see him out with his kids over and over. this one again, another tragedy. >> he's one of those actors that you've also got to believe that

his best work was was in front of him. >> i agree with you. he was a character actor for years, with capote everybody was paying attention to him. addiction is a powerful thing if that's what -- >> always good to see you. thanks for your insight. coming up on this very snowy monday afternoon, we're going to head to one of big apple airportses, that is not where travelers want to be on this monday. first though, it was congressman michael grimm who provided snl with all of the material they needed for this. >> talk about the planning committee and nothing else. >> your constituents have a right to -- >> we're done here. >> as you can see the congresswoman is not interested in answering to these new accusations. >> want to be thrown out awindow? when i do it, you go down with the glass -- >> i was trying to --

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live pictures of the snowfall here in new york city. that's a -- what are we looking at? this is laguardia where the snow has been falling for several hours now. there's a storm tearing across the northeast. it's already led to serious delays at airports all over the region. our man in the snow, ron mott live at laguardia. what's the word -- first of all, you went from super bowl coverage to this. you probably have seen some of the same fans you covered. >> reporter: i mean, it's unbelievable. yesterday 50 some odd degrees and people wearing shorts and today it is snowing. a lot of folks are in a state of shock literally. we have seen denver bronco fans trying to get home back out west today and a lot of them will

spend most of the day if not all night in the new york city area and get out tomorrow. here's the latest. we've got 250 or so cancellations here at laguardia, worst case over in newark liberty, 350 there. jfk minimal effects at this point. philadelphia has problems. if you're flying into or out of any of those airports, from anywhere around the country, call your airline first if they haven't already called you. chances are all of the delays we're seeing here will affect your flights down the lines. the delays are running from about 2:45 and jfk about the same and newark over three hours, philadelphia up over four hours. it's a real problem but we are expecting the snow to taper off. it's already getting lighter and fluffier for the afternoon hours and by 6:00 or 7:00 tonight, we think a lot of these flights that were delayed this morning might be able to get off the ground. >> all right, nbc's ron mott for us at laguardia.

thank you. >> now to the courts, jury selection started this morning in the murder trial of michael dunne, the florida man accused of killing jordan davis outside a jacksonville convenience store. the case has drawn national attention especially because a white man killed davis, a black t teenager that is likely to see the stand your ground law once again used as a defense. jordan davis and three friends were parked in front of a convenience store playing loud music and argument took place between david anddunn, he says he saw the barrel of a shotgun pointed at him and pulled out a hand gunfired shots into the car killing davis. his attorney says he was acting in self-defense. but police did not find a gun in the teenagers car. i'm joined by former federal

prosecutor kendall kofy. he said he was acting in self-defense. with no gun found in the car, is this a strong case for stand your ground defense? >> it's a tough case for stand your ground defense because in contrast to george zimmerman trial where he had injuries and there was really no surviving eyewitness other than george witness, here you've got a shooter without any injuries whatsoever firing not one but maybe ten shots. it's a tough case. it will come down to whether or not the defendant can convince a jury to at least extent of a reasonable doubt that he was in fear for his life. with the missing gun, what the defense has to somehow do is convince the jury that maybe some of the other individuals in the car which left for a brief period of time, a minute or two and returned to the scene after the shots were fired, that

during that critical interview of a minute or two, some of the friends of jordan davis threw a gun away. if there's no gun, there's not much of a defense. >> he felt his life was in danger after multiple threats of death. does the florida stand your ground law, does it protect a person whose life is verbally threatened, even if a weapon is not clearly present. >> in theory, it could. and this case is going to be a remarkable and i think very impactful result if somehow the defendant gets acquitted because in theory, if you say -- jury thinks you reasonably had some belief that you faced serious bodily injury or fear of death, then that's good enough to walk you out of the courtroom. there doesn't have to be a gun found and doesn't have to be an injury by the shooter. it's all based on having a reasonable fear of death or

serious bodily injury. >> how much does it hurt his case they fled the scene and never called police? >> it hurts a lot. innocent people stand there and answer the questions. one of the things that helped zimmerman, we talked about the other differences, he didn't take off, like the result of that case or not. he stood there and spoke to the police and answered their questions draw mattic contrast from the actions of mr. dunn. >> really quickly before i let you go, the stand your ground law in the national spotlight. bring us up to speed on that statute. there have been a number of attempts to amend it to change it and repeal it all together. what's the latest? >> nothing is happening. legislative leaders will not change it, but if this case results in a not guilty, you may see some change. if this defendant without a gun, without an injury firing ten shots is found not guilty under stand your ground, it seems like anybody could as long as they

say they feared for their life. >> former federal prosecutor kendall coffey. thanks for your insight, sir. >> the countdown to sochi and the massive security operation designed to keep the game safe. we'll go live to russia. first though, back here. another live look from philadelphia as you can see it there, it looks like a blizzard, mike. looks like a blizzard. hey guys! 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 ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪

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how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ the winter olympics officially kick off on thursday. security still a top concern, even with 100,000 police, military and other security personnel on the ground. nbc's richard engel is on the ground in sochi, russia. richard let's start with that number, 100,000. 100,000 number of security personnel where you are is about equal to the total population of

the city of boulder, colorado. that is a lot of security. simple question here, does that make you feel any safer? >> of course it does. there's a target here that militant groups have said they want to strike. it is not us that is saying that is a target repeatedly islamic militant groups based in the north caucasus want to disrupt and target the games. russia would have been negligent had it not put in extra security. it put in a lot of security, i heard 70,000 and not just right here, that extends to about 150 mile radius all across this coastal and mountain area because the games being held in two different locations. down here the coastal cluster where the stadiums are and opening certificaemony will take up in the mountains. it does make people feel safer.

since we first got here and we've been coming to this area about a month now, the security procedures have gotten smoother. initially it took several hours to get through security. the systems weren't exactly in place. now it is still quite a rigorous check but it is much more stream lined. >> the athletes you've talked to, other journalists that you're talking to on the ground there, what are they saying in terms of how they feel about safety? >> reporter: the athletes, maybe they were getting some coached from their p.r. advisers but the athletes -- to an athlete we have spoken to, feel safe, they are excited about the games and have been strictly talking about their events and their preparations for the events. tourists that we've spoken to also say that they feel safe. there's no reason that they shouldn't feel safe. there's no crime here. it's not a threatening place. it's just this lingering threat from militant groups in the

north caucasus. but if the militant groups don't do anything, then there would be nothing here to be intimidated by. it is a very not intimidating place. it's created out of nothing. facilities are all brand-new. it's just the idea that if these groups who are several hundred miles away from here, make good on their threats, they could do something disruptive and damaging. >> last question here, you've done a lot of reporting on the very terrorist threats of the game, so-called black widow bombers who are out there waiting to strike what's the latest on them? >> the latest is that the russian authorities have stopped talking about them. a couple of weeks ago, notices went around to hotels and airports and bus stations and to be on the lookout for several black widows, five militants, several of them were women, a couple were men.

and the notices when you read the notices, they said that at least one of these militants, suicide bombers was thought to be in the sochi area. now russian officials from the fsb, which is the most senior intelligence agency in the country, old kgb and officials associated with the games, say that information was maybe exaggerated or incorrect. that it was spread in rumor form by the media. they are dis avowing those notices that they put up themselves and will only say no threat, everything is taken care of. we've got this taken care of. we have the security situation under control. >> we'll leave it there. richard engel live in sochi. thank you. of course, we will continue to cover to the runup of the games which can be watched across our family of nbc networks. while the east coast gets battered by more winter weather, we're going to talk about the massive drought out west and why

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the weather is pounding the northeast right now and when it moves out, bill karins tells us at the top of our broadcast, that more winter weather was going to be moving in. the latest winter weather forcing some delays and closures at airports and storm could drop up to 8 inches in some places from eastern kentucky to new york state. and again, another storm right on its heels, meanwhile, at the opposite extreme is the drought consuming california and the west coast. governor injuriry brown declared a state of emergency last month as images like this have become

common place throughout the region. water levels in most reservoirs are at less than 50 percent capacity. for an extreme example, look at pictures the weather channel found of the fol som lake reservoir in northern california. this is what the dam area looked like in august of 2011. now, take a look at it today. simply amazing. one professor told "the new york times" that california was having his worst drought in 500 years. founding editor of climate progress.org. joe, first of all, in broad terms, simple terms here, how does a drought of this magnitude, how does it happen? well, in this particular case, there's this ridge of high pressure sitting off the coast of the pacific northwest and canada that is steering all of the weather that would normally hit california, steering it up

to alaska which has been unusually warm and gotten a lot of precipitation. california gets most of its precipitation in the wintertime and it -- the snow on the mountains is sort of a critical reservoir for when it's relatively dry the rest of the year. you've had this ridge of high pressure, this is basically blocked the storms from providi providing precipitation to california. >> what do you do? you can't just create a snow pack that these communities rely on for water. >> i think people are going to have to start planning, perhaps for different weather conditions. i mean, because on top of the lack of precipitation, you also have global warming. it's getting hotter and hotter. when you take dry soil and heat it up and there's no moisture to evaporate, it kicks like the pictures you've been showing. there's a great concern. i did a post on climate progress which talked about the great

concern that california is sort of headed into a semiarid and very dry state and of course much hotter and that could have very wide implications, including for agriculture in the central valley. >> we could be witnessing right now a changing climate entirely for the state of california, is that what you're saying? >> absolutely, i think a lot of scientists predicted the southwest united states would see longer and stronger droughts. and we certainly know it's getting hotter and we snow the snow pack is disappearing at a much -- a rate that hasn't been seen in hundreds of years. it's possible that what we're seeing now is sort of the beginning stages of what could be a permanent shift into much drier conditions. >> what is that going to mean for folks who don't live on the west coast? for folks who live in the heart land or east coast as well? >> well, obviously we get a lot

of food from california, one of the bread baskets of the world, one of bread baskets of the united states. and a lot of the agriculture reuses a lot of water. if you're going to grow oranges, you're clearly going to need a lot of water and that's true of a lot of different types of foods. i think we may ultimately see higher prices for food and depending on how long this lasts, you can see some dramatic impacts. >> really quickly before we go. we've got especially rural communities in california that according to experts there, we're talking 60 days max in some cases where these communities could be without water by and large. what do we do? are we going to truck water in? there's been talk of drilling wells there. what's the short term solution? >> the short term solution is sort of widespread rationing of water. and obviously there's going to

be a fight between getting water to people and using water for agriculture since agriculture still uses vast amounts of water, tough choices have to be made by the state. >> joe romm, thank you, always appreciate you. >> that wraps things up for me on this really snowy afternoon in new york city. i'm craig melvin. up next "andrea mitchell reports." we leave you with another look, this one from snow in trenton. statehouse in trenton, only february 3rd and already a long winter. i'm bill karins, a lot of winter weather to be dealt with. the worst across southern

pennsylvania, heavy snow as we go throughout the day. we'll see that tapering off this evening and another winter storm right behind it will affect the central plains on tuesday. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.®

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this fast moving snowstorm is only in first quarter. what al roker promises will be a week of mystery, we second the "today" show gang, can we file a complaint with punxsutawney phil? >> that groundhog was right. >> i'm going to finds him and smack his momma. >> the relentless defense dominated from the first snap as broncos championship dreams and peyton manning's come back slipped through their fingers on their very first play. >> talk about the 12th man in seattle look how this game starts. peyton manning is come to the line to make a protection check or change the play. >> down and out. it was a bad weekend in the garden state for someone other than peyton manning from former port authority aide difd wildstein's memo and chris christie's political battles just got tougher.

the talented philip seymour hoffman, a lifetime of indelible roles cut short. >> you get it? >> no, you're not stupid, you're just in congress. good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington, the groundhog saw his shadow and we're getting a reminder of what six more weeks of winter looks like. expected to bring up to 9 inches of snow in some areas of the northeast. most of the country is in for more winter weather this week with two more storms expected to close schools and business and cause travel nightmares. nbc's ron mott joins me