tomorrow night. good thursday morning. right now, storm tracker. at least 12 deaths. planes, trains, automobiles all impacted even the federal government is closed. we have multiple reports including when we will see some relief. alleged nsa leaker edward snowden stole a password and allowing him greater access to classified information. comcast is reportedly buying time warner cable combining the number one and two cable companies in america. the captain will call it quits after this season. from that's incredible file, we bring you the story behind these images.

>> thank you for joining us, i'm betty nguyen. a winter storm is working its way up the east coast while slamming the south with ice and snow. one of 500,000 people are without power and the highways became parking lots as motorists abandoned their cars. tracie potts is live in washington, d.c. where the federal government is actually closed today. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. schools are closed and states of emergency declared yesterday because they knew this was going to be a big one. a lot of snow in georgia is moving up our way. we understand they are now getting that sleet and wintry mix that we are expecting later today. the snow caused a lot of problems in the carolinas. roads essentially shutdown. lots of people stuck on the roads and many did stay inside but some major backups, especially around the charlotte area and in raleigh. power is still a huge problem

down south. as this morning, more people are getting their power on, but still 500,000 without power. we haven't started to see that issue as much up here yet. the snow is still falling. we got about 5 inches overnight and expecting 2, 3, 4 more inches today, plus that sleet and rain. then more snow this evening. betty? >> looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better out there. we have seen this before. thank you so much. bill karins is tracking this storm. i feel like we are in groundhog! every week, we are seeing this! >> reagan international 4 inches of snow already on the ground and inch or two in the d.c. area. if you're in the philadelphia area, baltimore region and new york city, just be prepared. if you're leaving the house within the next two to three hours conditions will get worse. this band is dark blue on the snow map here. this is snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour. the type of snow the plows can't

keep up with. the band goes north of richmond right through d.c. now. up here through the baltimore area. notice the temperature 32 in d.c. so it's getting to be a heavy wet snow. 30 in baltimore. a little colder up here. philadelphia into baltimore. better chance of staying all snow as we go throughout the peak of the morning commute. new york city the snow is beginning 29 degrees. we are raining on the jersey shore so a fine line between where we are going to get the very heavy snow and rain. the snow totals down in areas of virginia here, especially towards the lynchburg and roanoke areas upwards of 12 inches. it's a quick hit and pile up. that is what is going to be over the top of areas like new york city as we go through the morning commute. i'm thinking right now, d.c. 4 to 5 inches on the ground and you'll end up with 8 to 12 and same story baltimore. philly to new york city 8 to 12 inches but a chance it could get higher. if the band sets up on the back

side of the storm over the top of "the new york times" we could see 10 to 16. it's a two-part storm for a lot of people. we have this morning, then a break. this afternoon warmer and roads okay but tonight, another batch of snow coming through. >> a double whammy. >> if you don't have to be on the roads d.c. to new york, don't do it this morning. >> thank you, bill. a crippling government default is avoided what is described as a nail-biter on the senate vote and included some surprises. all in an effort to avoid a filibuster attempt by ted cruz of texas. like minority leader mitch mcconnell of kentucky, that filibuster cleared the vote of 54-43 to raise the debt ceiling. president obama is expected to sign the bill which avoids a default on the nation's bills come february 27th. for his part, senator cruz says he has no regret saying the

senate has given president obama a blank check. a stunning fall from grace in new orleans. former mayor ray nagin who became the face of the city during hurricane katrina has been convicted on federal charges of corruption and bribery. nagin was accused of accepting more than $500,000 in payoffs including first class trips to jamaica and manhattan in exchange for millions of dollars in city contracts and he was found guilty on 20 of the 21 counts against him. each charge carries a prison sentence from 3 to 20 years. sentencing is scheduled for june 11th, until then, he is on home confinement. to an nbc news exclusive. alleged nsa leakerer snowden may have obtained that information when he swiped a password from a civilian colleague using trickery. what happened was the colleague entered his password on snowden's computer and he didn't know but snowden was able to capture it.

it says a civilian employee was unaware of snowden's contentions but he failed to imply with security voks so that clearance was revoked and he has resigned. the memo also reveals two people barred from accessing nsa facilities and active duty member in the military and a contractor. they have been, quote, implicated in actions that may have aided snowden. day six of the winter olympic games in sochi and six gold medals are up for grabs including one in the olympic debut of the men's ski slopestyle. in the latest nbc medal count, here it is. norway leads the way with 12 total, four gold, followed by canada and the netherlands with ten each. the u.s. with nine. but when it comes to gold, germany has the midas touch and leads the pack with six gold medal medals. jay gray is live in sochi. what is everyone watching today, jay? >> reporter: i think that men's

slopestyle is a big deal. four strong u.s. competitors and they examine to maybe get the medal stand more than once in that but men's hockey is taking center stage today. the u.s. team finally on the ice. the nhl players got here a bit late and practiced and shaken off the jet lag and ready to play. they slay slovakia. a monumental showdown four years ago in vancouver. we are talking snowboard, halfpipe. the men were blanked but the women really outstanding on the halfpipe and start with kaitlin ferrington. she came from nowhere to the top of the medal stand here. a former idaho rodeo queen. the last one to make this team. she threw down a monster run and made it all the way to the gold medal. also on the stand we had kelly

clark with the bronze so that is good news for team usa. now to the bad news. sh shani davis looking to win only three individual golds in three separate olympics didn't happen. he finished eighth in 1,000 meters and going for gold in the 1500 over the weekend. curling is on tap today. everybody loves that. >> absolutely! >> we have something to show you here. i think now they are really athletes. this is 42 to 44 pounds and this is the one used in the game and all of the curling stones come from an island a mile long off the coast of scotland. >> where does the broom come from? the local grocery store? i think they are a little high tech than that. now for more sports with

veronica de la cruz. >> derrick jeter says this will be his last year playing major league baseball. 3,316 hits and 13 all-star appearances in his 19 seasons and made the announcement on his facebook page. the one thing i said when baseball started to feel like a job, it would be time to move forward. before he leaves, he says he wants to help yankees win another championship. college hoops now. number one syracuse is still perfect and in an epic finish against pittsburgh down by one with four seconds left, freshman enas throws a three-pointer and nails it at the buzzer. the orange win it and now 24-0. miami heat at golden state. warriors up by two, five seconds left. lebron james nails a three-pointer for the win and

miami takes it 111-110. this summit was climbed and don't look down! he is doing it without a rope or a net! this surface is described as smooth as glass. >> nervous! >> no ridges! nasa has relieved beautiful night images of sochi from space. you can clearly see the circular fish stadium which held the opening ceremony right there off to the side of your screen. tampa bay rays pitcher alex cobb proposed to his girlfriend with the help of this doven. looks like she said yes. ladies on team usa. snowboarding team. jamie anderson are hoping that they might be walking down that aisle soon enough. anderson saying there are some hotties in the olympic village. parnl she and others are using that dating app tender while at

sochi. apparently so many good looking athletes that tender at sochi says she is, quote, next level. i'm right there with her. have you seen some of those skiers and hockey players and snowboarde snowboarders? i do. a massive 45 million dollar deal that could impact over 35 million americans. why is barbie in "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue? the architect of all tv comedy has died. we have those details next. [ female announcer ] new fiber one protein cereal.

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>> a big story in cuba. our david faber at cnbc reporting that comcast has reached a deal to buy time warner cable for ruffle 44 billion. the deal which will be announced later today would create the largest cable provider with more

than 33 million subscribers and expected to face a tough review by the fcc but sources tell cnbc comcast may give up some customers to aleleviate those concerns. the ceo's will be on cnbc squawk box at 7:00 a.m. eastern time this morning. dominating american tv sets in the 1950s with tens of millions of viewers. one of his writers, mel brooks, once called sacaesar the funnie man on tv. sid caesar was 91. a 55-year-old barbie doll will be gracing the front page of this year's "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition.

you go, girl. your stomach may drop watching this last video. dare devil in spain attempted to walk between, oh! two hot air balloons and that didn't work. they are were 01,000 feet above. neither of the dare devils as you see made it across and were force to do parachoot doute dow earth. an incredible sight that could bring classic car lovers to tears. details next. new multigrain cheerios dark chocolate crunch is breakfast... with benefits. start your day with a delicious new crunch. healthy never tasted so good.

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time for "scrambled politics." former vice president walter mondale is recovering after heart surgery. the 86-year-old served in the carter administration. he is expected to make a full recovery. this news comes on the heels of the death of his wife joan mondale. congressman gary miller of california is retiring. that makes a total of 11 house republicans and 7 democrats who are resigning this election year. house dems are taking off following their debt ceiling victory. >> it's really stunning that 199 republicans voted to default on the -- credit of the united states of america. that is not in furtherance of an economy that works for all

americans. wendy davis she would washing the law only if the law deferred to a woman and her doctor. the democrat made headlines filibustering the same law last year and she stood for 11 hours in those pink sneakers of her. california an parent first in a congressional campaign ad. a new ad shows him holding hands with his partner. he is one of three openly gay republicans running for congress this year. speaking of 2014 elections. superpacts have super cash. a whopping $63 million to send this year but democrats are way ahead with $41 million with just $22 million for republican superpact. lawmakers are hard at work considering a bill to make the ukulele the official state

instrument. a quick lesson for you guy. texas's state instrument is the guitar and the accordion in louisiana and missouri claims the fiddle, along with arkansas, oklahoma and south carolina. who knew it was so popular? set your dvr. vice president joe biden will help seth myers break in his new premiere on february 24th, "late night" with seth myers. bob frankum joins me now to talk about more politics. surprisingly, mitch mcconnell voted for it despite senator ted cruz threatening to filibuster it. does this expose more risk within the party? >> oh, sure. enough big rift between the party. you have basically the stability politicians like mitch mcconnell, the ones who are incredibly effective for their

side going up saying look what they have been effective at and basically brought the united states to its knees. ted cruz, you have somebody whose motto might be no shot is too cheap and taking advantage of the antagonism within the hard right of the party and endanger mitch mcconnell's re-election chances. >> some are calling mcconnell's vote necessary and courageous or is it going to hurt him in the gop primary in kentucky as you eluded to against matt bevin who has the backing of the tea party? >> he does have the backing of the tea party and kentucky is a conservative state but mcconnell is an institution in that state and slb interesting to see what he and what we are calling the party establishment can hold off the insurgents like bevin. >> i want to switch gears to new jersey and governor chris christie. his popularity may be taking a hit in the bridge scandal but he has raised a whopping $6 million

for the republican governors association. >> i think an old saying i don't care what you say about me, just talk about me. this is somebody who is very high profile right now. i think a bet among people who are in the, quote, moderate wing of the republican party that he might be their champion so they are not about to say no to him. >> they are holding on indeed. bob frankum, we thank you. >> thank you. coming up, we will show you every car lover's worst nightmare next. ♪ ♪ where you think you're gonna go ♪ ♪ when your time's all gone? [ male announcer ] live a full life. the new lexus ct hybrid with an epa estimated 42 mpg. ♪ the further you go, the more interesting it gets. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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we got a lot to buzz about

today. veronica, you have quite the song. i guess the anthem now for all of this snow we are seeing? >> yes. two teachers in durham, north carolina, took it upon themselves to make this snow day message. take a look. >> all right. ♪ listen listen swing like a harpoon ♪ ♪ i don't know turn up the heat i don't know snowing down missiles ♪ >> snowing down like missiles and bringing snow delays. >> watch out! speaking of snow. this is a really beautiful story. this little boy in chicago, his mom came down with cancer and she is fighting it and she's in the hospital. what he wanted to do, he wanted

to send her a message so this is what they were able to do on the parking lot across the street so she could see it out her window. it says, hi, mom. god bless you. >> how did they do that? >> they only used their feet and shuffled around in the snow and they said it didn't take very long at all. he and his father did that. you see the little smiley face inside the "o" for the mom. >> what happened to your story was not a good idea. >> remember the house got swallowed and the people were in it in florida? this opened up in bowling green, kentucky, of all places. where did it open up? at the corvette museum! >> oh! >> we lost eight corvettes to the sinkhole! they lost corvette was only

built in 1992. they put the camera down in there to see them buried. i'm willing to dig down in there and get my corvette. stay tuned, because "way too early" starts right now. ♪ >> don't put your stupid hat on at this point in time. they can't yourself. protect your family. protect your neighbors. >> advice for those in the south. once again, caught unprepared by a well advertised snowstorm. who is in the line of fire for the nor'easter now. >> political futures on the line but will that move cost them their seats at the midterm? speaking of double teams. jimmy kimmel desexualizes the olympic sport of the luge with the videos you must see to believe! this is "way too early"!

>> welcome to "way too early" for thursday, february 13th. straight people need love too, donald. >> apparently. let's get to the nor'easter. this really coming up with some nasty winter weather for a lot of people around the country. the latest blast of severe weather has shut down states in the south and taking aim at the north and some could see a foot of snow and packing a double punch of ice and freezing rain. more than 7,000 flights have been cancelled or delayed. roads are a real disaster. look at these images. in north carolina, drivers say virtually every car was stuck in the snow and fishtailing and everybody is getting out of their cars and starting to walk. hundreds of