>> 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 people in georgia

and carolinas are in the dark and that number would rise. it's dealing with the second big storm in as many weeks. athletes at the winter olympics are complaining of the warm weather at sochi and some wondering around the olympic village in shorts. reynolds wolf has the latest on the storm. >> i'm coming to you as you mentioned from in the snow. it's coming down top to bottom and sideways across the screen. this is the first batch of snow we have had. this morning, we woke up to snowfall i'd say from 6 inches some spots to 8 inches but let me tell you, we are going to see more as we make our on way into the afternoon. some locations around loudon county could be above a foot before all is said and done. people urged to stay off the roads. governor terry mcauliffe had salt trucks out and today keeping the roadways as clear as possible. people could do their part by

staying at home. bill karins is going to join us with the very latest with the updated forecast coming your way in a few minutes. a party line in the senate sent on to the white house and presenting a clean bill that increases the nation's borrowing limit and president obama is expected to sign it today but rivals clashed yesterday as mitch mcconnell and john cornyn looked to end that. there is no such thing as an easy vote in washington. they voiced their concern that the bill did not include spending cuts but like tuesday's vote in the house the party leaders who pushed the bill through the legislative process and no republican was willing to cast a critical 60th vote to end the debate, mcconnell and cornyn rallied support for the bill and surprising move by the men. both men are facing tea party challenges this year in the mid terms. in the end their gamble paid off with 12 republicans joining all

55 democrats to end the filibuster by a final procedural vote 67-31. senator orrin hatch said, quote, i didn't want this to come down to be a criticized vote a few of our people. it just wasn't right. senator bob corker said, hopefully, people will understand that mcconnell especially in toughest republican race in the country had the courage to vote the way the vast majority needed to occur. senator cruz called it a classic victory for washington establishment interests and when asked in mlb consequently could remain a leader of the caucus he replied it is ultimately a decision for the voters of kentucky. for the first time the number of people signing up for health care coverage through the federal and the state exchanges has exceeded white house expectations. overall, 3.3 million have signed up for coverage under the aca since october 1st and that includes nearly 1.2 million who enrolled last month, nearly a

hundred thousand more than projected but a significant drop-off from the sign-ups in december but obamacare is struggling with the young invincibles. 25% of those who enrolled are young adults and well below the white house target of 40%. a new survey finds the number of uninsured americans have hit a five-year low. 16% of adults say they do not have health coverage. wendy davis rose to fame over her filibuster owner a texas law that restricted the women's law to -- now she is turning heads with the revelation she would have supported a ban on the procedure after 20 weeks, if it allowed women and their doctors more room to make that decision. this is a very specific distinction for davis. davis telling the dallas morning news that fewer than half of 1% of abortions happen after 20 weeks. also in this interview, davis said she would consider decriminalizing marijuana in the state of texas. the man who led new orleans through its recovery from

hurricane katrina has been found guilty of corruption. a jury convicting former new orleans democrat irmayor ray nagin yesterday on 20 out of 21 counts. the charges include wire fraud, conspiracy, bribery, prosecutors said even though nagin vowed to fight corruption, he accepted money and vacation and other gifts from contractors who wanted to do business with the devastated city. officials say it started doctor hurricane katrina and continued well into the city's recovery efforts. he could be behind bars for up to 20 years. a federal judge striking down the state's ban on recognizing same-sex marriages performed legally in other states. the judge said the ban violated the equal protection clause of the u.s. constitution. now supporters of marriage inequality say the ruling could lead to same-sex marriages in kentucky. also happening yesterday same-sex couples filing lawsuits for similar bands in louisiana and missouri. remember a few hours we will get

the latest on unemployment numbers. yesterday the markets were mixed with the nasdaq closing in positive territory and four day rally we have been witnessed on wall street and jeff is live in london with the latest. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning to you, thomas. retail sales and jobs numbers that the market will be watching as we have this little pause in upsides for markets at the moment. another fascinating story out there. comcast our parent here in the nbc universal stable is stepping up to buy time warner's cable business. $44 billion. it will give them a significant stake in this space now. that is interesting to the regulators because they will have 33 million subscribers. it also means they will have a third of the broadband market as delivered by a cable and further u.s. video subscriber. the regulators will take a look. comcast, at the moment, seems

confident they will get the deal through. move on to toyota the world's largest automaker. bad news for them. 1.9 million prius hybrids are called there. problem with the software and put out a recall on other cars because of heating seat problems or heaters in the seats having issues. so not a good day at the office for toyota. back to you. we talked earlier in the week about the mobile price wars. verizon has news to announce now, jeff? >> absolutely. look. one of these days, your mobile costs will be about the same as ours i would imagine if your carriers keep hacking away at the prices. this is the latest news in this mobile war that we have seen kicked off by deutch. the issue today, verizon, a leak suggesting they will come out and they will reduce prices on the share everything customer tariffs here and cust monthly

costs, i think, between 10 and 20 bucks on handsets for those who finance the phones using verizon edge. there is a sting in the tail here. because they are, obviously, focusing down on costs, five call centers -- in the united states so that will have jobs consequences, thomas. back to you. >> quickly. a program note for you at cnbc. i believe ceo brian roberts of comcast is on at 7:00 a.m. for you guys and joining us over here around 7:30 for "morning joe" so we look forward to talk about that big moor. still ahead. lebron was an assassin last night visiting the warriors. a stray dog in sochi. an olympic athlete is stepping up to take on this problem on his very own. a heart warming story. that and the forecast for bill karins coming up. with hundreds of thousands in the dark this morning how do you pass the time without power

during a winter storm? hopefully, you can see me as i ask you this. tweet us your creative answers at the address on the screen. let's get way too early trending people. let's get trending. we will put the best answers on the show coming up. "way too early" is back after this. (meow mix jingle) right on cue. it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste,

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shoo-in for the hall of fame in 2020 and he is said to be getting his gift baskets ready. you know what i'm talking about? to the nba. oakland, don't shrug your shoulders. warriors trailing the heat by two in the final seconds. >> five, three. on the way! he's got it! >> look at that. lebron james with the step-back three before the buzzer! heat win 111-110. the knicks continue to be horrible and their point guard raymond felton isn't helping the cause. he had this costly turnover as new york was on the verge of looksing to the kings last night at the garden with the team down by six you can see the intensity on his face. look at that. the knicks fought a big comeback. knicks lose to the kings 106-101. sleepy time. >> contagious yawn. >> they caught him on camera

with that? >> somebody else did it. good idea, bill. like that. number one ranked syracuse put its number one record on the line. they needed last-second magic to keep their perfect season alive. take a look at this. >> two seconds. he'll get a shot off. on the way! got it! he hit it! he hit the shot! syracuse wins it! >> not a high scoring game here but syracuse wins it. >> i'm a huge orange fan, by the way. >> are you? >> huge! >> they remain perfect. >> a great team. >> you, on the other hand, not so perfect with all of this snow but we will chastise you in a second. in sochi, it's 70! >> women in the water. >> they are like in little bikinis over there. the american men have slept the slopestyle. let's hear a cheer. usa took a gold.

two other americans took dlvsil and bronze but a disappointment. two-time u.s. gold medalist shani davis falls short after losing in the 1,000 meter speed skating competition and favored to win gold, davis dropped to eighth place finish overall. still a tremendous athlete there. some redemption for the u.s. on the olympic halfpipe. kelly clark took home bronze for her third olympic medal and farington took home a gold medal. women's hockey yesterday. team usa led into the third period and canada scored three uns answered goals but the game did not have any significant implications as both teams expected to meet again in the final. stay tuned for men's olympic hockey. russia and slovenia will be live

on msnbc. our stage manager jen has finally fought her first report for us from sochi. >> thomas, how is it going? >> reporter: right now, men sochi russia. amazing. having an amazing time here. the weather is phenomenal. who would have thought i would have to come to russia to get out of the cold? miss you a lot. and say hi to joe and mika for me. >> we miss you too, jen. here is jen when she is in her tank top drinking vodka! >> so unreal. >> i want her to find the bus and if she can just put down the juice, she can go find my bus. i want her to find that and find my bust. i want her to hunt for the bust. jim is drinking vodka in a tank top and we are back here in parkas. >> the olympics were in sochi, russia.

i never knew where it was. i thought like a freezing cold place like siberia. look at this live picture. they are out there in the square, the beer gardens are open. >> jersey city there which is as pretty as sochi. >> somebody tweeted me yesterday it was warmer in sochi than the last four summer olympic sites. >> when they have shots of palm trees at the winter olympics, it's kind of weird. >> it's a little strange. let's get into the -- what will be an be the worst morning commute from philadelphia to d.c. up the new york city of the winter season. our two storms are in the middle of combining right now into a pretty large storm just off the outer banks of north carolina. the northern shield of this we call it a thump. a big thump of snow in a hurry. d.c. 6 to 10 enchs inches of sn five hours last night and snow over new york city during the peak of the morning rush hour. we jumped to 36 degrees in

washington, d.c. it did warm up but the snow has already fallen. you get a break now and probably more snow at the tail end of the snow but don't expect a lot more accumulating snow in d.c. throughout the day today. further north the snow is hard from baltimore to philly and snowing and 38 degrees and snowing in new york city and heavy snow over the top of philly and trenton soon and then new york city. snow totals in the south were impressive. a lot of this has already fallen but the roanoke area about 12 to 18 inches. out there the western portions of west virginia especially. i mentioned we have about 6 inches in d.c. by the time we are said and done 8 to 12 and i'm thinking 8 to 12 for new york city. new york get up to 6 to 8 inches by 10:00 a.m. this morning and only an inch or two right now. another batch will come later. the bull's-eye around hartford to huge travel impact. a lot of people driven in the new york city area the last couple of storms but you haven't

driven in what you're about to. it's going to snow a lot harder. the airports probably closed in new york and philadelphia as we go throughout the morning. coming up on the top of the hour on "morning joe" the debt ceiling may be over but the republican compromise may have ignited another firestorm and why ted cruz is calling out the minority. come back as we hover over the water cooler. great stuff coming up. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach.

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earlier in the show, we talked about derek jeter's plan to retire at the end of this season. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends jerted may have won five gold gloves during his major league careers but in the minor leagues he had 56 errors in a single season but one of the most celebrated players now. we huddle around the water cooler sad news today. >> the entertainment world is mourning the loss of a true comedy pioneer this morning. >> you are one of the world's architects an ar archeologists. why is it important to say the egyptian architect is the most sturdy and ever-lasting?

>> it is simply the architecture when we dug it up was in good shape. look it hero. look at it here. look at it here. look at it here. look at it. look at it! >> that's it. >> sid caesar unbelievable talent. he is considered the king of live tv and he passed way. caesar starred in "your show of shows "on "and it was said the prototype. he was 91 years old. you may have heard about the stray dog issue surrounding the olympic venues in sochi. the dogs are all over the place and they have ordered the dogs to be killed which is horrible

but not everybody has found the dogs a nuisance. american skier gus kenworth made saving some of the dogs his personal mission. kenworthy says he lined up kennels back in the u.s. to vaccinate as many puppies as he can. he is competing in the slopestyle event this morning and we will let you know if he makes the medal stand during that event but we are rooting for him. >> the story of the day is here. >> more from sochi. the dating app tender is the rage. it allows members to scan through the pictures of nearby potential dates. thomas, have you used this app before? >> no. i'm married. >> you're married? >> to a man. >> so it doesn't really work.

>> trying to corrupt the olympic village with your heterosexual nintend nintendos. >> taking over the olympics, mika. heterosexual is in everybody's face. >> do you know what tender is, mika? >> tender? that is like being soft? >> no. it's an app. >> she doesn't know. >> mike is married too. it doesn't work for any of us. snowboarder jamie anderson said the app was so distracting she had to delete her account to keep hur eye on the prize and not clear if she is back on the wagon and now she is done with her competition, maybe she is back on tender but you know what? i will find out if she is back on tender or not and have our investigative team on it. jimmy kimmel has a few suggestions could take the stigma away from the luge event.

>> some of the olympic lugers don't appreciate their sport depicted as gay even though it is. maybe luging would seem less if they tried some other positions. and we have this suggestion. face-to-face or we call this one the hood ornament. here we have the snow loaded. this is the -- this one is known as the surf and turf. and finally this one is called the freestyle. there is no freestyle in luge but you get the picture. >> thomas, what did you think about those? >> best i say nothing. >> i like the surf one. >> still ahead on "way too

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earlier in the show, we asked you how do you pass the time without power during a winter storm? >> this is a sign of what is to come. becky said lots of october babies, i guess. >> that could be. >> shea said i go to sleep because the nightmare of having to communicate with my family is unbearable. >> it does take a lot of time and patience with family members with no phones and no technology. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ things are a real mess there in sochi. a lot of seats for the events are empty either the tickets never got sold or the ticket holders never showed up. the russians are using volunteers to fill the seats but in