know that he was justice ginsburg's official puncher when she started to fall asleep at speeches. and learning that come on, that's the best new thing in the world. may we all good morning, everyone. right now on "first look," breaking news overnight a texas judge blocks president obama's executive order on immigration. 5 million people are now in deportation limbo. an absolute mess as an ice storm from oak tok to the carolinas heads northeast, even shutting down the federal government. and an incredible scene in west virginia where an oil train derailed and explodes causing an environmental nightmare. plus this cyclist, lance armstrong, ordered to pay $10 million. a dicey situation in the parking lot of a piggly wiggly and mardi gras comes to a head

on this fat tuesday, february 17th. good morning, everybody, thanks for waking up with us. i'm betty nguyen. late last night a federal judge in texas temporarily blocked president obama's executive order on deportation. so the fate of 5 million undocumented immigrants is once again in limbo. the new ruling comes two days before the u.s. citizenship and immigration services was supposed to start accepting applications for the deferred action program. now, with the injunction texas and 25 other states can sue the federal government to permanently stop the executive orders. in a statement, texas governor greg abbott praised the decision saying it quote, rightly stops the president's overreach in its tracks. this morning, the white house is firing back though calling the policies lawful and common sense. they say the depp of justice as previously indicated will appeal the decision. now to this other blast of bitter cold. over 250,000 are without power this morning and, yes, more snow is falling.

out east the carolinas will see sleet and dangerous freezing rain. the big bullseye is on places like virginia and washington, d.c. the possibility of up to 9 inches of snow. in d.c. an emergency is in effect a snow emergency. that means no school today. federal offices are also closed. late last night air force one landed in a snowy maryland. the president just back from a trip to palm springs, california, where i'm sure it was nice there. snow hit virginia, there's this. whoa! a close call for an nbc news crew from wavy. an suv sliding out of control stops just inches from the tv crew's live truck. down south, they are digging out, in kentucky more than 8 inches of snow fell on monday. on snow-slick roads, 3,000 tons of salt were used. and in arkansas a snowy, icy mess made travel just treacherous.

take you to west virginia. safety officials are investigating the cause of a fiery train derailment. you have to see the pictures here. the freight train was carrying crude oil. it derailed and exploded about 30 miles southeast of charleston. at least one train car plunged into a nearby river causing worry over contamination. csx release a statement late last night, saying csx personnel and agencies are continuing their assessment to continue the number of car derailed and resulting oil loss. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington following this story for us. what's the latest in this investigation? >> well betty it's all about that snow you were talking about and the bitter cold we're experienced here. it's part of the same system that swept through west virginia. investigators want to know if that caused the crash. it looked like a winter wonderland on fire. >> did you get a picture of that? >> reporter: a 300-foot fireball over west virginia thick, black smoke blanketing two small

towns. a thousand people were evacuated. they're in hotels and shelters this morning. >> when i went outside, one of the bigger explosives happened and by that time i was too eager to get into the car and be ready to get out of there. >> reporter: the csx train was carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil. it slammed into a house, several cars exploded. >> we're standing there on the riverbank when we saw the train explode or a car explode. >> reporter: one tanker landed in the river, causing concerns about contamination, oil leaking out, power went out. officials shut down two water plants as a precaution. as for the fires, officials are letting them burn out. amazingly, only one person was treated for smoke inhalation. no one else was injured. now, the department of transportation is asking the white house to add about an eighth inch of steel to some of those older tankers, betty,

because they want to make them thicker and safer. >> all right. tracie, thank you so much for that report. we appreciate it. in the fight against isis revenge attacks are ramping up there are new reports that another 35 egyptians have been kidnapped in areas of libya controlled by isis and other islamic extremists. this comes one day after egypt launched an air strike in libya. that was in retaliation for the gruesome isis murders of 21 egyptian christians. nshs's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: 21 egyptian capitolic christians being paraded along the tripoli water front before being beheaded by isis terrorists in libya, even as the terror group threatened to kill more egyptians in libya. among thousands of egyptian migrants unable to find jobs at him. egypt scrambles f-16s to retaliate. the first time it's taken action

against the isis group. relatives of the slaughtered prisoners grieve. italy, the last western power in tripoli evacuated its citizens and pope francis mourned the latest victims. he said they're their only words were jesus helped me. they were killed simply for the fact this they were christians. in libya, gripped by civil war, isis is taking root. >> there's only one message that comes from them which is convert to our ways do things our ways or we're going to kill you. >> that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. an arbitration panel is ordered disgraced cyclist lance armstrong to pay $10 million. this is the result of a fraud dispute with dallas-based company sba promotions. they gave armstrong $12 million in bonuses. it says armstrong engaged in an

unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy for lying about using performance-enhancing drugs. it wanted some of the money back and now it looks like the company just may get it. a first in the "american sniper" murder trial. the video confession from accused killer eddie ray routh was played in court. here's nbc's jacob rascon. >> reporter: for several minutes, eddie ray mouth doesn't move. the jury hears the nearly hour-long recording, the media ordered no the to broadcast audio. when the questioning begins routh doesn't answer directly rambling about flying pigs and people feeding on his soul but then he confesses he shot chris kyle first, then quote, i knew if i did not take out his soul he was coming to take mine next. routh describes the guns he used admits to stealing kyle's truck and trying to escape. at least three times the investigator asks routh if he understands if what he did was

wrong? right, routh answers, yes, sir, he says later. at one point routh interrupts the interview asking about his parents, i'd like to see them at least hug my mom one last time, you know. routh apologizes saying quote, i'm just sorry for what i've done you know and we can work this out. i guess i need to be doing more thanking in this town than hurting people. >> that was nbc's jacob rascon reporting. the music world lost a great singer/songwriter. ♪ it's my party and i'll cry if i want to ♪ ♪ cry if i want to ♪ ♪ cry if i want to ♪ ♪ you would cry too if it happened to you ♪ >> leslie gore topped the charts in 1963 at age 16 with "it's my party." gore died monday at a new york city hospital. she reportedly had been battling lung cancer. gore was more than just a

one-hit wonder. she sang "you don't own me" and "sunshine, lollipops and rainbows." lesscy gore was 68 years old. u.s. labor secretary tom perez is in san francisco this morning. he'll mediate a massive labor dispute threatening to cost the u.s. economy an estimated $2 billion a day. the showdown between dock workers and shippers from southern california to seattle has already up-ended supply chains. according to a new survey by carnegie mellon university of 1,000 drivers, 71% want a self-driving car to automatically adjust to weather conditions. 60% want the car to park itself and baby boomers want to be able to read and relax without having to do anything at all. the massive cold and snow has one new york town temporarily giving up on attracting visitors. the visit ithaca website quickly shifts to a promo for the florida keys.

it says quote, we surrender, winter, you win. key west anyone? i don't blame them. to sports off the knicks bought out the remainder of ammarar'e stoudemire's contract the all-star power forward is leaning towards signing with the dallas mavericks. nascar driver kurt busch was slapped with a restraining order. it requires busch to stay at least 100 yards away from dress driscoll driscoll, her home and workplace. nass consider says it would not take any action against busch based on the protection order. the yankees are returning uniform numbers of anti-dy pettitte, posada and another player. a marathoner crawled her way to the finish line.

she led for most of the women's race. she was ahead before her body simply gave out about 50 yards short of completing the 26.2-mile run. she refused to quit and she still finished in third place. congratulations to her. wow. well a shih tzu named rocket was chosen top toy dog on day one of the westminster kennel club dog show. her dog will be one of seven in the final ring tuesday night when best in show is chosen. today, let's talk about this fat tuesday as mardi gras comes to a head tonight. nbc's jay gray joins me now from the heart of it all. we're talking about the famous bourbon street in new orleans. it seems like it may be rainy today. will that affect the festivities? >> i don't think so betty. we've had rain here temperatures much cooler more mardi gras but nobody seems to

notice. take a look down bourbon street. i don't know if these folks are wraing up last night's party or getting an early start on the final day of mardi gras. either way, there are still a ton of people out early in the morning along bourbon street. good news for this city. this is one of their most important economic drivers. we know of the 30,000 plus hotel rooms in new orleans 95% of those are booked. mardi gras annually brings in about a billion, with a "b," dollars in spending. they want to make sure they get it right regardless of the weather. to this point it looks like that's happening. the concern about the rain has some of the parades rolling a bit early. they did last night, they will this morning zulu and rex, the biggest, starting at 8:00 and 10:00 respectively. after that the party starts in the french quarter or should i say continues. >> it doesn't look like anyone

goes to sleep during mardi gras. >> no. a new poll reveals who americans believe is our greatest enemy. that is next. first, check out the scene in mayville mississippi. a 92-year-old driver turned the parking lot of a piggly wiggly into what looked like was a demolition derby. the man won't face charges but the dmv will review his driving record. 13 minutes past the hour. we'll be right back.

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oh, say it isn't so. america's most famous 27-foot hot dog on wheels is out of commission. the oscar meyer weiner mobile crashed into a pole.

don't worry, they have several. it will not be out of commission. wonder if it had anything to do with the weather. >> look at this long line of snowstorms on the northern end. this system goes from the gulf to new england. we have sleet coming down in parts of alabama. the snow is pushing through the mid-atlantic. it's moving up through new england. we've already seen over 5 inches in parts of d.c. and philadelphia picking up over 3 inches so far. here's a look at snow totals by the time it's all said and done which will be by early this afternoon. it's a quick hitter but enough to cause travel delays. temperatures easier to take on the east coast but it is still very cold betty. >> brutal and cold. thank you. stories making news thousands of people gathered in copenhagen to honor the victims of saturday's shooting spree. two men are under arrest this

morning. they are expected of aiding the gunmen in a pair of deadly terrorist shootings. president obama called the danish prime minister to offer condolences after the attack. a drastic shift in how americans view its enemies. a if you gallop poll think russia is the u.s.'s biggest enemy, up from 2% two years ago and beats out north korea. in a separate gallop poll 1 in 5 americans think congress is doing a pretty good job. that's in fact up 16% from december when the old congress was on its way out. president bush's political architect, karl rove on hillary clinton's biggest white house threat. we'll tell you who it is. "scrambled politics" is up next.

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21 minutes past the hour. here is your "first look" at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." an editorial in the "washington post," republicans is playing hot potato with homeland security funding. an impasse over the budget may cause the department of homeland security to shut down at the end of the month. the postsupreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg spoke to msnbc reporter erin carmen about a wide-range of topics. including how the notorious rbg plans to serve. >> my successor will be the choice of whatever president is

sitting at that time. i'm concerned about doing the job full steam. i've said many times, once i sense that i am slipping i will step down because this is a very intense job. it is by far the best and the hardest job i've ever had. former george w. bush deputy chief of staff karl rove thinks senator elizabeth warren could be a credible threat to hillary clinton if she decides to make a white house bid. during an interview with the hugh hewitt show he said, i think elizabeth warren's hard-left views on the economy are such that she could give her a run for her money. the liberal group run for warren has launched a new website called dear elizabeth warren.com. supporters can go online or send post cards or letters

encouraging her to make a white house run. look at all those former presidents in one room. he wrote, happy president's day from the fourth one from the left. and that's your morning disturb of scrambled politics. that's a great picture with president obama and all the other presidents still alive today. i'm joined by political analyst and best-selling author alex pennington. >> that was a nice picture. kind of makes me sentimental to see that. >> exactly. i don't know how this will make you feel though late last night, a texas federal judge put the fate of 5 million undocumented immigrants in limbo. what's the play here with this? >> i'm glad you mentioned the number. it really is important. this involves real people. these are 5 million folks who now have a huge level of anxiety this morning that they did not have last night. we're talking about young people who are here trying to get lives started. many of these are the parents of people here legally. americans say they're sincere.

their parents are undocumented. now they have to worry about this. >> we understand that the white house says the department of justice will a. >> sure. >> could this battle drag out for quite some time? >> there's a legal battle and a political battle. maybe we ought to separate them. >> sure. >> the courts are always slow. it will go on for years. the injunction will be appealed. this isn't even the marriage of the case. >> texas and 25 other states. >> it will come back to me in a couple of years. the politics are right now, the republicans very eager to make inroads with latino voters. this kind of thing just absolutely slams that back. betty, really, might be another generation before republicans are able to get latino votes in this country. >> really? >> yes. >> that is incredible especially when you're looking at so many families that were really depend on that happening. in the meantime while you have this political battle and legal battle going on what happens with the undocumented immigrants? >> well, you know, there was

going to be a process that was going to begin on wednesday where people who fell under these new limitations were able to go in and register and put some applications information in. that's frozen. that's not going to happen on wednesday. but we'll have to watch and see whether the circuit court actually overturns this ruling and allows that process to begin. for right now, don't go down on wednesday. >> so don't do anything just yet. even though a lot of worry is going through a lot of families it will take until wednesday. after wednesday we may get some kind of i guess, inroads as to where this will do? >> yes, the first thing that will happen is there will be efforts to appeal this decision. unless that's overturned nothing's going to happen. >> it's like a chess match, it really is. you do this we'll do this we'll see how it plays out. >> good to see you. i'm betty nguyen. this is "first look" on nbc. "way too early" with thomas roberts is coming up next. don't go anywhere.

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things are bad in new england, in fact it's all they're talking about on the news. check out this local news story about the snow. >> this storm is shattering records all across the state. >> the snow just keeps on coming. here's what some officials had to say about the situation. mayor marty walsh says this is a nightmare, i haven't slept in 48 hours. school superintendent richard king says we had to cancel school for several days. fifth grader billy doyle said this is the greatest f'ing week

of my life. i'm joe scarborough, almost to "way too early." a federal judge blocked president obama's executive order on immigration. egypt called for action on isis and "snl" broke records for nbc. we begin this morning with a fight against isis. after the release of a new video purportedly showing the beheadings of 21 egyptian christians, egypt's military retaliated monday with a series of air strikes against isis targets in libya. now, egypt's president is actually calling for a u.n. resolution mandating international intervention against the terror group in libya. good luck with that. as if his own military would act again, he said quote, we need to do it again and we all of us together. pope francis also speaking out condemning the killings in the strongest terms possible. and calling