the blizzard of 2015 is bearing bearing down and the storm cycle is in full effect. this is going to be a significant storm. we want to get individuals home and off the roads as quickly as possible. >> 50,000 pounds of salt we have several hundred national guard who have been called out. and will be stationed in new york city and long island primarily. >> this is not a storm to take lightly. >> we anticipate that hundreds of thousands of customers are likely to be without power at some point. it is important to remember that it may take many days multiple days to get power back on. >> we have crews working around the clock. any time you have blizzard conditions and several feet of snow it will take time to clear all roads for safe travel. the storm will no doubt will

pose significant challenges. >> use today to prepare. the snow is coming. the storm is coming. it is going to be the most severe storm that we've seen in years, maybe decades. and with two or three feet of snow and 60 or 70 mile-per-hour winds it will take us days to clean up. >> good afternoon, i'm toure and as we come on the air, northeastern governors are announcing major precautions as this massive historic storm continues to build strength. 60 million people are under a winter weather advisory talking from ohio to georgia. and the 28 million people will feel the brunt of this blizzard in the northeast. the worst happens overnight through tomorrow's commute. experts fear 2-4 inches of new snow every hour. we're tracking the hour by hour impact because one small change in the storm's direction will determine which model is correct

from a few inches to a few feet. right now states of emergency in new york connecticut, rhode island and massachusetts are giving the states flexibility and money and crews are positioning equipment and the national guard is on stand-by and schools and businesses are letting out early and canceling tomorrow's schedules. so the advice is get home stay off the roads and stay home and drink cocoa. and here is a new vocab word for you. bombo-genesis. the lower the pressure the stronger the storm and this turns a routine storm into thunder snow. that is right, thunder snow. 20-40 miles per hour near hurricane winds and it could be up to 80 miles per hour and that

is pumping big fears of coastal flooding and 25 foot waves and inland with massive snowdrifts up to 10 feet tall and the potential for wide-spread water outages. utility crews from michigan who are no stranger to this sort of weather are on the way to the east coast to help restore possible outages. new york wants all tractor-trailers off the roads and in connecticut all vehicles are to be off the roads. and in rhode island and massachusetts, it starts at midnight. we start with msnbc meteorologist dominica davis. this is starting to gear up. who should expect what and when? >> listen this storm is starting to gear up. we should expect know from new york all the way up into new england. that is where the jackpot is going to be. and yes, 2-3 feet of snow could be the case. so here is a look at our

warnings. blizzard warnings from coastal connecticut up to bangor maine. blizzard warnings starting at 1:00 and conditions deteriorating, at 1:00 for new york. so conditions will deteriorate in the next few hours as we move up i-95. here is a look at the radar. the snow is starting to ramp up. not just in philadelphia but new york as well. you are seeing some bright blue bands and we're getting in on stronger winds and visibility issues. so moderate to heavy rainfall in new york. and even over long island. look at the bright white. that is coming together and unfortunately it will get worse before it gets better. here is a look at the winds. winds are a big thing with this because remember blizzard warnings, it is not about the snow amount it is about the conditions and with the winds that means we have blowing and

drifting snow which makes for white-out conditions so this does matter into how dangerous the storm will be. 24 mile-per-hour winds in philadelphia. we're seeing 24 mile-per-hour winds in new york. lesser winds up to the north. these will all pick up overnight. we could see winds as high as 50 miles per hour as we head into the maybe -- the main part of the storm overnight and tomorrow morning. now here is a look at the visibility. we saw the snow coming down at a good clip in new york city. visibility is less than a mile. down to four in philadelphia. it is still relatively good to the north. from hartford and boston on up. and again that will go down into the evening. here is a look at the latest models and what they are putting out for the snow totals for this storm. 14 inches likely in new york with this system. 30 inches in new haven. the jackpot is certainly as we move up the coast, we could see three feet of snow in parts of massachusetts. this will be a very impressive

storm to say the least and we'll keep updating you throughout the hour. back to you. >> thank you so much for that dominica. we'll get back to you. and let's good to chris warren. he is in providence rhode island. they are expecting possibly 30 inches of snow. what is it like there now? >> reporter: the wind is picking up and we have been watching the traffic pick up. so as the cars are slowly making their way on to interstate 95 northbound, we do hope they get home soon. because as 7:00 this evening, when the blizzard warning goes into effect, it is going to be 30 hours with that blizzard warning under effect. so if you don't get home and you are stuck, you are in big trouble. because as dominica was saying the visibility is way down and you'll have the snow and even if you get the snow letting up for

a little while, the wind is still blowing so strong you still will have blizzard conditions potentially with the snow blowing across the ground. so as we look right now, can you see lights flashing from a triple-a vehicle so that is not a sign of what is happening and what is possibly building but we are seeing more and more cars on the roads and hopefully people will get home and already potentially could be without power for several days. from providence rhode island. >> from chris warren out to long island, new york where there is concern about flooding. nbc's ron allen is there. ronald, how are things going now? >> reporter: it is deteriorating. we have thick, chunky snowfall falling for last hour or so. and we're near a major highway that the state officials are concerned about. here you can see there is a traffic jam on the long island expressway and that is heading east out toward the tip of long island where the worst of the storm will hit. and can you see it is moving

slowly, almost gridlock for the last hour or so. we've seen emergency vehicles creeping through and the big concern that if the emergency vehicle has to get through, will it be able to make it. as of this afternoon the governor is saying all trucks have to be off the road. and still seeing trucks in that directionment and by 11:00 tonight, a complete travel ban, everyone off the road. we'll see if that happens. over here there is a filling station, a steady stream of cars moving in and out to get gas and other supplies inside of the mart. a lot of activity at the supermarkets. right now it is snowing but later the big concern is the wind because we are on long island surrounded by water. they are concerned about coastal flooding and storm surges. this is an area hit hard by hurricane sandy so they knew what to do. crews said they were planning ahead of time for this and planning to lay salt on the road surfaces before the snow started

falling so it is easier to plow it to remove it. they have been plowing it and the roads look clear but now as i said the storm is picking up and it is falling consistently and it is only going to get worse into the night. the idea -- the goal is to get everybody off the roads by nightfall because that is when it is expected to get dangerous. so this is the mad dash for home moving slowly and creeping along and everybody trying to get off the roads and have a safe night. and they are warning people here to expect power outages that could last for several days. back to you guys. >> ron allen, thanks again. that long island expressway traffic did not look good. let's bring in tom costello at la guardia airport. tom, i don't know what to say other than how bad will it be? no one is getting out today?

>> reporter: no. in fact we have ground stopping here at la guardia and newark airport. that means those flights that were supposed to be coming in they are not coming in. and here is right. leroy, turn this around. we're going to do this in an unorthodox fashion. we have 26 hundred flights canceled today and tomorrow. here is the misery map from flight aware. it will show you the worst hit cities. la guardia leading in cancellations. 51% canceled, 61% of arrivals and it is building in philadelphia, and also jfk and newark. washington's reagan as well because they feed to the northeast. and chicago affected 98 flights leaving o.r.d. are canceled and 59 flying in are canceled as well. and that is what you would expect into and out of the northeast it. will take quite a while to

recover from having 5,000 cancellations over two days. what is happening is the airlines are moving the planes out of the storm's path so they are moving them to warming temperatures or areas clean of the snow and then fly in once everything is clean and begin resuming operations but you can imagine, it will take 48-72 hours for them to pick up the slack and then repair the damage. i would also tell you, we don't have too many people here in the terminal at la guardia. and i think the reason is the airplanes have been proactively canceling flights, telling people, you aren't getting out today so don't bother showing up and people aren't bothering to show up today. the flight boards say canceled and for the most part this place will be a ghost town in the next few hours. back to you. >> thank you, tom costello. i don't think you'll see people in the airport for the next couple of days. and we'll monitoring the weather and we'll have another

complete update for you in 30 minutes. in the meantime send us your photos and video but be safe about it. tweet us with the hash tag blizzard 15. and pat's coach bill belichick offers up a scientific offer of deflate-gate. but does it make sense to bill nye the science guy. and here is what it looks look on the ground from the ground. (kids laughing) you know i tried one of those bargain paper towels but i had to use so many sheets per spill the roll just disappeared. i knew i should've bought bounty bounty is 2x more absorbent and strong when wet. just look how much longer bounty lasts versus one of those bargain brand towels. and that's a good deal.

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it is an early dismissal for congress today. the house has canceled a number of votes for tonight as the deep freeze settles into washington. and meantime the road to 2016 is heating up today for republicans, it go more clear this weekend but not exactly krystal clear. get it. and there was a pac announced for chris christie and le have a fundraising tour in big donor states and his big speech in iowa this weekend. also there wisconsin governor scott walker who got a rousing reception. just another stop potentially on the road to 2016. our next stop is a conversation with thomas shaler author of the strong hold. how republicans captured congress and surrendered the white house and shane gold whose

new article reveals fundraising for 2016 that could make super-pacs look modest. >> oh, wow! >> thanks for having us on. >> i want to start with you, shane and your thoughts from iowa. i thought one of the best comments was from scott walker. let's listen to what he had to say. >> i think people like the way they are directed. maybe that is why i won the race for governor three times in the last four years. [ applause ] >> three times, mind you, in a state that hasn't gone republican for president since i was in high school more than 30 years ago. how about that? >> shane that seems like a pretty compelling case, i have to say for scott walker. and chris christie had a strong performance. who do you think were the big

winner this is weekend? >> i think there is no question scott walker came out one of the big winners and one of the reasons is the expectation game. people were accusing him of being boring but he excited this grassroots crowd. chris christie was well received and he told iowa look you might not agree with me on everything, but you agree with me most of the time so this is the only way we'll win elections. >> and what we are looking at in the coming years coming up to 2016 and i followed it closely when my dad ran last time and it is familiar to what we saw. washington post asks an important question saying is iowa a no-win situation for an establishment candidate and you think of someone moderate and more mainstream and they can either not win the nomination or if they do they end up saying something crazy that doesn't win them the overall general

election. if you can win the nomination, but if you can't win the general it doesn't matter any way. >> that is the case i make in my book the strong hold because it does serious damage to the wing. and if your dad had won, then it would be different. and you can say who won this weekend, it would be bush and romney for not going. that was the smart strategy. and when bush came to college in 1999, he tried to avoid the controversial people and including tom delay from his own state. and when he was forced to take a picture with him and they said see, and he said we are running. it could be very toxic. >> but it could hurt him. we'll see down the road. >> tom, your folksbook called the

strong hold is great and folks excited about politics should read it. and after the last election they said we have to come out to latinos, but you said no they believe they should double down on this white base that is dwindling and ignore the rising demographic people of color even though they know that is not a future-looking strategy. >> i think the party talks a good game and the government opportunity project and the post-diagnostics that came out of march in 2013 but look at the steve king audience, it was mostly white audience and a mostly house caucus that is mostly white men when nancy pelosi has a majority of white men. so the caucus is the democrats

in the senate and especially the democrats in the house. it is not the house republicans or even the senate republicans. >> and a very important name here. when you talk about what happened this weekend in iowa they came to an event hosted by steve king a congressman from iowa, a far right republican known for anti-immigrant rhetoric and i'm going to put a comments he's famous for. he's talking about young immigrants. for everyone who is a valedictorian, there is another person that weighs 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they have hauled 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. and some of them didn't come. and mitt romney said i'm not coming and jeb bush said i'm not coming. but how important was this to the gop-nominating process and why? >> he's important in iowa because he represents part of

the state and one of the ruby red part of the state and it is the kickoff. not only was the host on the event and his name was on there and that tells you who didn't come. marco rubio pushing immigration, didn't show up. jeb bush and mitt romney didn't show up. and when jeb bush and mitt romney's name were mentioned, mostly by chris christie it was booed. this is the establishment republican and that is why chris christie's appearance and standing on his stage and rick perry did a fist pump with him and the democrats love steve king and love having him be a host for the republican party. >> chris, one of the interesting things in the book is the republican official most influencing the gop is not

ronald reagan it is newt gingrich. >> i was going to say someone else. >> and already the white house making good on its name. and up next we'll talk weather and deflate-gate with bill nye, the science guy. can footballs actually deflate on their own in the cold? you listen. you laugh. you worry. you do whatever it takes to take care of your family. and when it's time to plan for your family's future we're here for you. we're legalzoom, and for over 10 years we've helped families just like yours with wills, living trusts and more. visit us today for legal help you can count on. legalzoom. legal help is here. when it comes to good nutrition...i'm no expert. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and

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the storm of the century is already having an impact on the super bowl sort of. the embattled new england patriots have left early for arizona. they flew out today. no word on whether they left town with their tail between their legs because of the story that just won't die -- ball-gazi. richard sherman figures that the

deflate-re ots won't be deflated because of their relationship with the commissioner. >> as long as roger goodell and robert kraft are taking pictures at each other's homes. they were just taking pictures at each other's homes, talk about conflict of interest. >> the coach belichick said he won't discuss this any longer but everybody outside of the locker room wants to talk about this so much and there was a fight in our newsroom by richard louie that brought us to this. >> this was the reason that after this play -- this ball is getting the squeeze. temperature change was why the nfl found 11 patriots' footballs below pressure. so argued the never effusive patriots coach bill belichick. and here is another guy -- a

scientist. >> you need one of these, the inflation needle. >> but maybe there is an argument here. his unspoken logic leading to detail of a patriots life one week ago. so bill belichick said their test started indoors, the feel tom brady likes. and rubbing with hands, with a body temperature of 98.6 degrees. and perhaps heat temperature transfers. and then the ball goes outside where last sunday the temperatures were in the mid 30s. that causes the ball's team to drop 60 degrees. >> the true equilibrium of the ball -- >> the tire companies say for every ten degrees expect a 2% change in the tire.

but the problem is it is the patriots did the study, leaving us on this monday before the super bowl with at least six ways to sunday. richard louie, msnbc, new york. >> thank you, richard, louie. it is a pleasure to say we have to talk with us -- deflate-gate bill nye the science guy and sports fanatic, jordan schultz. bill nye, i have to start with you. the explanation sounds absurd footballs spontaneously deflating because of the environment. what say you sir? >> well here is what i believe. i've run some numbers, and i very much appreciate all of the input to my website. but i think the issue -- his claim is not -- it has a scientific basis. when things get cold there are molecules not moving as fast

the ball will shrink every so slightly. but it is the scale of it. the requires temperature change is quite a bit to get a 15% reduction in temperature. plus mr. louie cited 12.5 psi, the norminal thing is 13 psi so it is all in there, but there is two other things that they want everybody to keep in find for you csi buffs and not psi, csi. >> i followed you. >> in 2006 mr. brady and one of the mannings petitioned the nfl to let the visiting team inflate their own footballs. >> interesting. >> and they were successful because they are big-time guys. and then the guy who detected the deflated ball was not a referee, it was a defensive player d'qwell jackson. he caught the ball and thought,

wow, that doesn't feel well. >> and to that point, how much of an advantage is it to play with a deflated ball. >> there is a study, i did not do but it is all over the internet the thing the kids use, but the rate of fumbles by the new england patriots is remarkably low. a staggering statistic or staggering fact. and i'll just tell you, i'm not a professional football player as you know. but -- >> i didn't know that. >> but it is much easier to hold against you and control. it is easier to catch. >> you are absolutely right, bill and espn has done segment after segment with former professional players showing how much easier it is to hold the ball and throw it when it is deflated. hold on. i want to talk about the fumble avoidance rate they have and not only that but players who play

for the patriots and go to other teams fumble far more other on other teams. so to you, jordan are the patriots cheaters? >> this is 100% cheating. just because other teams do it or the patriots haven't done it before, doesn't make it less cheating. >> but certainly they wouldn't start in the afc championship game? >> right. but how long has this been going on? you go back to 2007 with spy gate where bill belichick vehemently denied that he did anything different in terms of video reporting or video taping defensive coordinators signals. it is absolutely cheating. and for the patriots to say they had no idea bill belichick, the ceo of the operation, hard to believe. >> let's say they cheated and i'm not saying they didn't they probably did, right. there is this strain of thought saying the patriots are being unduly targeted because of the spy gate thing way back when or

whatever it is and nbc is fortunately to have its own sports jock. let's look at this. >> steve, gamesmanship or cheating. >> well as long as other people are cheating then it is fine. >> how come -- but how come we talked about on national tv aaron rodgers overinflating the footballs and that is not cheating. how come we're only talking about it when the new england patriots do it. >> so is steve corn aki who is so right about so many things is it edited scrutiny because it is patriots? >> no. i don't think so. i think it is added scrutiny because it is a week up to the super bowl and in a championship game. so now you are detracting from the game and that is more bothersome than it is the patriots and bg that has a history of cheating.

so tom brady and bill belichick and robert kraft, this can't be a surprise to them. >> they've been deflating footballs for year. >> and if you're tom brady and you've played in how many big football games how do you not know or feel -- >> he doesn't feel the same because they are always deflated. >> bill, while we have you, i want your thoughts on the other big story we are following today. the massive blizzard that is coming into the northeast right now. your thoughts on this major storm? >> well i would like to connect the two stories, if i may, with money. >> please. >> a reason for me that the deflated footballs are important, if they truly are deflated and they seem to be according to my calculation and so on is that money is involved. the super bowl is a big thing. so the team that wins gets an economic advantage and all of the people that bet on the game and so on. that is a big thing. and everybody, i want to introduce the idea that this

storm is connected to climate change. i want to introduce that idea. i know there will be certain viewers who almost unglued throwing things at their television set and so on. but is the economic effect of storms like this is huge. you cancel half of the flights out of the world's -- one of the world's busiest airports certainly the eastern seaboard is a busy area economically for airplane travel and so when you start having big storms and you don't have the infrastructure to deal with it you are costing your society a lot of money and we're in the developed world where we can handle this stuff. so i just want to introduce the idea that the strong winds that we had in southern california, the strong winds that will be associated with this storm in the next couple of days these could be connected to climate change. now proving any one storm is connected, specially cold-weather events is difficult. but i just want to present that. >> bill i love you for bringing

that in. thank you so much. bill and jordan and the guys at home. >> how about a super bowl pick? >> we'll have you back. folks at home has not seen that our stage manager joey is dying, because he is the number one patriots fan. more next on the major story of the day. #blizzard of 2015. the snow is picking up and we have abby out in it. hope she doesn't get blown away. your full storm cycle is up next. huh, fifteen minutes could save you

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appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of serious side effects. i'm down with crestor! make your move. ask your doctor about crestor. [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans. wow! [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to his campbell's chunky soup. it's new chunky beer-n-cheese with beef and bacon soup. i love it. and mama loves you. ♪ ♪ hey, guys. we're out here and keeping each other warm. >> i know. >> i kid you not, there were people ice skating behind us just a few minutes ago. they keep trying to move the snow around but more and more keeps coming down. i have to say, i'm from utah i love the snow but what makes

this so different is the wind. how bad will it get? >> the wind is going to get up to hurricane force winds so we're talking 50-60 miles per hour and not just in new england, but up in new england. boston up through cape cod, providence rhode island and they will see it. that is what makes it a blizzard. the conditions make it a blizzard. so it is a persistent whiteout and that is why it is a blizzard. it is affecting 30 million people almost. >> so get inside. we are getting each other warm. >> my coat used to be black. what happened? >> i'll see you in a minute. i hope you are enjoying the nice heat in there. >> we are enjoying it. get back in here dominica and abby. boston could get up to 30 inches. chris pal own is there. last flight out of logan international will leave in four hours and after that they will

close. how prepared do you think the city is? >> reporter: you know i think it is pretty prepared krystal. it is a recently-developing storm. i came into town to cover the patriots on friday and all they were talking about a clipper system that would dump a couple of inches of snow and something dramatically changed friday night into saturday. so for having as little notice as people here have had, it seems like they are prepared. i just took a walk around boston common here a little while ago before 3:00 and i saw people heading for the subway or the cars those who did come into work. the subway looked like people taking it off, a long weekend. and if you did get near a grocery store, you probably couldn't find a cart to put your stuff in. gas stations are the same way. people gasing up their cars. people -- the leaders here have

done a good job of getting the message out to get people to understand this could be a very unusual weather event. as you mentioned before. not just the 20-30 inches of snow. it snows here all of the time. though, not that much. this could be a top five snow event for boston. but with the high wind and coastal flooding that could happen. this could be a problem. hower outages -- power outages for days. so people are heeding the warning and hunkering down for the next two to three days. guys. >> thank you very much. and the state of new york is no stranger of snow to this magnitude. that is usually up state. my relatives in avril, new york i'm thinking of you. partial travel bans starts in an hour. jane timm is where the plows are starting. you look uncomfortable out there. krystal is thinking about walking home tonight. i think that is crazy. i hope you are keeping warm. give us the lay of the land out

there and boy, do you look cold? >> well out here when we first got here around 7:00 or 8:00 this morning, the snow was barely touching and it would melt on impact. as you can see we have about a good inch of this white, fluffy heavy stuff. once we get to two inches you will start to see a lot of plow trucks. 1500 plow trucks will be deployed the minute we get to two inches as they try to get the snow off the 6,000 miles that new york city has to plow. and the wind is picking up. you can see off to my left new jersey, less than a mile off the river, you can barely see it. you can barely see a ferry that is quite close. already we've seen lots and lots of salt trucks trying to get out and get the roads as safe as they can. 400 have been deployed 1800 will be deployed at the peak of the storm because it is one of the worst that we've seen and

can see since 2006 when almost 27 inches dropped in new york. and then before that since 1947. where there was just over 26 inches. and we're expecting up to two feet now and this is a fast-moving storm and that could change. >> jane timm thank you. and new yorks are still out running, working out. good for her. and this just in krystal ball is braver than blake zef. and in philadelphia they are expecting to get a foot. mish blocker is with wcau in the snowy city of brotherly love. >> reporter: the snow is just starting. it is just trickling down here in center city. by 6:00 mayor michael nutter will declare a snow emergency and also giving out discounted parking at city garages throughout the city. you can see the traffic is light. the city is making every effort

to get as many cars off of city streets as possible. we are expecting about a foot of snow right here in center city philadelphia. very light rush hour. usually philadelphia it is just starting as people make their way out of the city. in all there are about 375 pieces of equipment expected to be used including trash and recycling trucks which is why trash and recycling will be canceled here in philadelphia. in all 800 people including city workers and private contractors will contribute to the effort. the mayor, mayor michael nutter wants all city streets cleared by at the latest on friday. back to you guys. >> mitch blacher in the 215. and now what we are hearing about the landing at the white house and the condition of one of the japanese hostages held for ransom by isis.

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and news of the japanese hostages, one was likely killed if we believe france and we also have greg miller who covers national security for "the washington post." i'm going to start with greg. greg lots of headlines to unpack and talk about, but let's start with yemen where the situation has gotten very chaotic. as you have been reporting, the houthi rebels have started to seize power in the recent days. that could seem like good news because they are anti-al qaeda, but they are anti-american. what do these developings mean for the united states? >> i think the main thing for the time being is throwing that strategy into uncertainty and disarray.

it is unclear who is in charge. we know that the president of yemen, who was a staunch ally of the united states has resigned. he has told us that he personally approved the drone strikes that the united states carries out there, so there are huge questions that hang over u.s. counterterrorism efforts against an al qaeda affiliate. >> the national review sends you into paris, into the outer suburbs suburbs, to talk to folks who met the kouachi brothers. a whole raft of people are stuck in a country that doesn't quite know what to do with them. for all their talk of equality the french are astonishingly racist when compared with the rest of europe. how do these factors feed into the radicalization we have seen. >> i think it is very difficult for a lot of people in france to

integrate. the french have a conception of frenchness that is similar in theory to the american ideal but it is taken to the extreme. they're not allowed to collect information on ethnic groups racial groups, or even religious groups. we're all friends anyway. if you go out outside the perimeter, they are mostly muslim. they are mostly black and north african people. there are many problems in those communities that come from those communities themselves. but france has sort of pushed people into these outer areas when the economy was booming and now through the education system, through a lack of economic opportunity, they're stuck. >> there's been this fascination right now in the media and in the public with what life is like in the suburbs around

paris. what was it like when you visited there? >> it's poor and there's a lot of violence. some of them are rich. then there are jewish areas in which -- i go into this in the piece -- there is a real problem in france for jews. it was centrally under military occupation, the province i went to. >> this was beefed up. >> that's right. there are general problems there. for example, if you wear a yamika you may find yourself beaten up. there are sort of gang land areas. then there are areas that are reasonably middle class. the people that have pushed back

against the idea they had anything to do with the kouachi brothers, but it is a hotbed of those who are outsiders within paris. i think that contributes to the problem. >> interesting. >> greg another big headline today are the two japanese hostages held by isis. it's likely one of them has been killed, beheaded. there's also a photo of the other japanese hostage. what looks like a photo that he's holding of his friend who has been beheaded. first they were asking for $200 million for ransom, but now they're asking for an exchange for one of their terrorists in jordan. why the change in strategy and is there anything we can do? >> that change was regarded as good news because there's still some room for negotiation,

however slim that is. that $200 million figure was grabbed on by the islamic state buzz because that matches the figure that the japanese government was pledging to help the coalition against terrorism. right now, they're asking for the release of a woman, a prisoner in jordan who was convicted of an attack there in 2005. >> is there anything else we know at this point, greg, about anyone else that they're holding, any other hostages? >> it's difficult to discuss to some degree. we have some information about other hostages that are being held, but some of that information, you know the news organizations have been asked to hold back on releasing some of that detail because there's worry it could get in the way of discussions about getting them released. >> a lot of international up

upheaval seeming to collide at once. the snow is starting to fall fast and furious in times square. keep it here for all afternoon for the latest weather coverage as this storm bears down. tell us how you are prepared edd for the storm. we're back in a moment. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is

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the blizzard is ramping up. get home. stay off the roads and drink cocoa indoors. keep it here for storm conch all

night long. "now" with alex wagner starts right now. right now, we are awaiting the latest weather advisory for the power house blizzard bearing down on the northeast. it is a storm that could make history. take a look at our top of the rock cam. you can see just how fast the snow is coming down in new york city. plows are out in force this afternoon, with states of emergency declared in four states. some 28 million people are under blizzard warnings from the jersey shore all the way up to maine. millions more are affected by thousands of flight cancellations. boston's logan airport will cancel all flights starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern until tomorrow morning.