looks like weather has canceled all of north carolina's legislative business tomorrow, as well. gleeful north carolina state senator jeff jackson get back to work. i'm sure you have more to do. senator jeff jackson, get back to work. i'm sure you have more to do. good wednesday morning. right now on "first look," winter fatigue reaches epic proportion, snow where to put it anymore. some are making the best of it. what cease-fire? russia's putin calls for ukrainians to surrender to the advancing rebels as washington applying more pressure. police need your help in tracking down a lone gunman who opened fire on ooh city bus near kansas city. fat tuesday gives way to ash wednesday for over a billion catholics worldwide. then a very awkward joe biden moment with the defense secretary's wife and finally best in show on this wednesday, february 18th. thanks for joining us on this wednesday morning.

i'm betty nguyen. right now winter the showing no mercy. snow-slammed states are bracing for subzero temperatures. weather so cold records could be broken. the arctic air locking onto the midwest, northeast and south. for the next 48 hours many cities will hit temperatures below zero. in middletown new jersey the icy conditions turn dangerous. a 14-year-old girl climbing on a pipe fell into the water. rescue crews forced to crawl on their hands and knees across the crackling ice. after a few tense moments the teen was pulled to safety. >> she was very cold, very wet and a little hypothermic. she was a trooper the whole time. also in new jersey this shocking scene, a snowplow swallowed up by a sinkhole. while the driver was clearing the street he had a big surprise there. he was able to escape with no injuries. that is the good news. but in boston a mind-blowing stat for you. the city is closing in on 100 inches of snow.

trucks have plowed for nearly 200,000 hours. the amount of salt used? nearly 75,000 tons. the mounds of snow all leading to this. >> no! >> folks on instagram diving out of windows into 40-foot snow piles. it looks like fun, but folks this is dangerous, forcing boston's mayor to issue a warn for people to stop jumping from windows into snow. in washington, d.c. there was this. >> one, two, three, go! >> that's an epic snowball fight. nbc's own peter alexander was part of the action. the folks behind it? the d.c. snowball fight association. let's get you to ukraine where the world is watching a strategic hub called debalt receive. so does that look like or sound like a cease-fire to you?

that is a tv crew's close call with a fireball the result of mortar rounds hitting a pipeline. as part of the recent ukrainian forces and pro-russian separatists, both sides were supposed to begin pulling back heavy weapons from the front line. a classic finger-pointing case of i'll do it when you do it. ukraine's defense ministry says some soldiers have been ambushed in that area and taking prisoners. they're denying rebels have taken control of the city. russian president vladimir putin echoed a commander urging the ukrainian troops to surrender. he says the u.s. is already delivering lethal wep bones to ukraine. back home the blame is blaming it on the separatists. the prosecution has rested its case in the american sniper murder trial. eddie ray routh is accused of murdering navy sooefls chris

kyle and chad littlefield. on the stand a ranger held up the rifle found at the crime scene. also on the stand, routh's mother jody. her testimony was crucial. she reached out to kyle to see if he could help her son. she knew he had helped other vets. she also testified that routh was never the same after his military service. he was suicidal and diagnosed with ptsd. routh is facing life behind bars. there's been a major twist in the battle over immigration. president obama's executive order which could stop the deportation of more than 4 million undocumented immigrants has been put on hold. the order would have gone into effect today, but a federal judge ruled the president overstepped his authority. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington for us this morning. tracy, what is happening next in this immigration battle? >>. >> reporter: next things have to work their way through the court system and we don't know how long that will take. what we do know right now, there will be no social security

numbers, no work permits for these kids called dreamers while the courts decide whether or not these immigration orders are constitutional. today instead of applying for legal status to begin college here andrea is praying the courts will change this ruling. >> i really hope they touch their hearts you know. i really hope they think about us that there's people like us. >> as a mother that scares me. that makes me stomach turn over. that's really scary. >> reporter: president obama's order that puts up to 5 million undocumented immigrants on the back burner for deportation has been blocked by a federal judge in texas. >> it's a political stunt. it's a hiccup. that's the process. >> reporter: 26 states led by texas sued. the judge says there will be no effective way of putting the toothpaste back in the tube if immigrants are allowed to stay here legally. >> we will not sit idly by while

the president ignores the law. >> changing the laws like he has is unprecedented. >> reporter: the justice department plans to appeal. >> i think the law is on our side and history is on our side. >> there is no amnesty in this. this is not about giving citizenship to anybody. >> reporter: for now pro immigration groups are making sure immigrants are ready to apply if this ruling is overturned. >> this process can be delayed. but we as a community will not be deterred. >> nbc's tracie potts in washington, thank you for that report. a man is suing the st. louis police department claiming officers used excessive force during an arrest last year. now the police department is once again facing public scrutiny because the officers appear to have turned off the dash camera during the arrest. police say they pulled the man and his passenger over for an illegal u turn after their car matched the description to a shots fired call. they say they were forced to pull the driver out of the car and onto the ground when he refused to get out. in the video the man is heart screaming as police officers

kick and use a taser gun on him. two minutes into that video an officer realizes they're being recorded. >> hold up. hold up. we're red right now. if you're worried about cameras, just wait. >> ten seconds later the dash camera appears to have been turned off. the driver was charged with resisting arrest as well ads as drugs and gun charges but those charges were dropped. an attorney representing the officers says they followed the police department's use of force policy. they are already calling it the creep. during the official swearing in of the new u.s. secretary of defense, ashton carter vice president joe biden invited carter's wife to stand with him. he put his hands on her shoulders from behind and whispers into her ear. we're not sure what he said. several people on social media took the opportunity to remind her that's the wife.

joe biden takes being biden to new heights of depths. she has a tail and drinks from a bowl but last night she was queen. >> my choice for the best in show is the beagle. >> at the westminster kennel club dog show miss pea is her name. she comes from a pretty powerful family grand niece of the winner. she beat out mat tease the top winning male, a portuguese water dog, also the cousin of president obama's family pet sunny. congratulations to miss pea. let's get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. >> apple may be going virtual. the company has been granted a patten for the wireless headset that uses the iphone as a

display screen. apple may be getting into the virtual reality market. samsung started selling a device last month and google plans to launch one later this year. household debt is rising. the fed said the debt hit nearly $12 trillion with the biggest increases in car and student loans. if consumers run into paying these debts, that could hurt their ability to make other purchases potentially chilling the u.s. company. starbucks has launched a delivery service for coffee from its high end rose rotisserie, for $288 a year you can have coffee delivered fresh to your door. top ranked kentucky improves to 26-0 after coasting to a 66-48 victory over tennessee. the wildcats set a program record for the best start in school history. seton hall suspend guard

sterling gibbs forgiving a forearm to the face in the second half of monday's loss. gibbs was ejected for the gate and later apologized on twitter. the cowboys are leaning toward using the franchise tag on their top receiver dez bryant. on twitter bryant responded who commented they love how dedicated bryant was for the franchise. bryant says i wish the cowboys felt the same way. but it's cool. it's business. alex rodriguez wrote an apology for his fans saying he was sorry for the actions that led to his suspension. he said in part i take full responsibility for the mission takes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season. i regret my actions made the situation worse than it needed to be. the fastest man in the world, six-time olympic gold medalist usain bolt said he's going to retire after the 2017 world championships.

the 28-year-old holds the world records for the 100 and 200 meters and the four by 100 replay. san diego state women's golf team showed some creativity putting together this trick shot video for their upcoming seasons. that is some skill. we want to tell you about shocking reports, taking the unthinkable to new levels. we've got first lady michelle obama's debut on "billy on the street". when we thought it couldn't get any colder we'll be looking at record breaking temperatures over the next couple mornings. i'll have the details coming up. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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good morning. welcome back to "first look." i'm meteorologist domenica davis. once again we're talking snow through the ohio valley southern indiana, louisville, down to bowling green and even nashville picking up on snowshowers. this will end by later this morning. through the ohio valley and

especially to the northeast we will see snowshowers break out from time to time today with all this cold air. look at this arctic air coming in from canada. this is our next batch of air that will arrive starting today through the northern plains and the midwest and even the ohio valley. here is a look at tomorrow morning's lows. we will see record breaking temperatures. actual air temperature, minus 9 to start out in minneapolis. it gets even colder and the colt moves further south by friday. we are looking at very bitter cold betty. temperatures running over the next couple days 20 to 30 degrees below february highs. >> thank you very much dominica. an iraqi member of parliament reported isis militants kidnapped 45 people and burned them to death. now an iraqi diplomat tells the u.n. security council the militant group might be harvesting organs some speculating, as a new means of cash flow. meanwhile a senior defense

official tells nbc news the u.s. will start training and providing syrian rebels with light pickup trucks mortars and small arms to defend themselves against groups like isis. that train carrying 3 million gallons of crude oil in west virginia is still burning. the national guard is taking water samples of a nearby river to see if it is contaminated. in haiti, carnival activities are canceled. the country is observing a mourning period for some 16 people killed when a float drove into high voltage wires. this set off a fire and then a stampede. dozens were injured. later today pope francis will deliver an ash wednesday homily. filipino catholics were among the first to celebrate the start of the fasting season. in iowa one community came together to kickoff the holiday season in a different way. the great pancake race. it started so that people could

indulge in certain ingredients they couldn't eat during lent. jeb bush speaks out on what separates him from w. and dad. plus the first lady slow dances with the one and only big bird. "scrambled politics" is next.

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at sears optical, we're committed to bringing them eyewear that works as hard as they do. right now, buy one pair and get another free. 19 minutes past the hour. here is your hump day edition of "scrambled politics." the white house is reporting 11.4 million americans are

signed up for private health coverage thanks to the affordable care act. february 15 the deadline for enrolling, had the highest number of sign-ups. >> the affordable care act is working, working a little better than we anticipated, certainly i think working a lot better than many of the critics talked about. >> from the associated press, comparisons to brother present interesting challenge for jeb bush. at a meeting of republican donors yesterday the question of how jeb will differentiate himself from his george w. and father -- his brother george w. and father came up. according to one gop donor, he said we are bound by our religious faith and family values but have different strategies and leadership styles. nancy pelosi led a congressional delegation to cuba. the trip comes two months after the president announced the u.s. would restore relations with the eye lachbtd nation.

she tweeted, visiting with marines in havana. our delegation will work to advance the u.s.-cuba relationship. north carolina state senator jeff jackson had fun on social media yesterday. he posted this photo and said due to inclement weather i appear to be the only non-security in the general assembly this morning. i feel like i should hurry up and pass medicaid expansion. he also tweeted i think i'm the only legislature in the building. let me take care of a few things medicaid expanded teachers paid fill jobs. even though the posts were fictitious, he got a lot of praise. one person even wrote can you run for governor please? . "funny or die"'s billy on the street welcomed the first lady. >> next question slow dance with big bird while i sing don't want to miss a thing. ready, guys? ♪ i don't want to close my eyes i don't want to fall asleep

because i miss you, baby and i don't want to miss a thing. >> as you can see, the first lady was a very good sport with that. that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." coming up on 22 minutes affidavit the hour. i'm joined by politico reporter lauren french. >> good morning. >> president obama is heading a summit to broaden the world approach to extremism. how does he plan on tackling that? >> he's going to outline some basic approaches basic concepts the world leaders can take to confront islamic extremeism. you'll have allies from the middle east, france jordan egypt, all to talk about the best practices countries can take to stop these islamic extremist attacks. >> i'm going to shift gears here. we're learning hillary clinton held a private meeting with senator elizabeth warren back in december. does she really need warren's support to win? >> this is a challenge facing miss clinton as she considers a presidential run. she does have to expand herself

to that populous base of the democrat and elizabeth warren to put it lightly, is the it girl at the moment in the populous base. miss clinton will absolutely have to expand her appeal among those looking for a much more progressive economic -- if she is going to run in 2016 and when. >> elizabeth warren getting a lot of traction here a big push to get her to run in 2016. could she be the one to give hillary clinton a run for her money? >> you could see if she got into the democratic primary how she would be a formidable challenge to hillary clinton. elizabeth warren has said over and over and over again that she is not running for president. she has taken no steps be signed the scenes to start running for president. it's hard to see her now really doing an about-face and getting into the race. >> yeah i know. plenty of times we've heard politicians say, no i'm not going to do it and what do they end up doing? they end up running. thank you so much lauren. we appreciate it.

>> absolutely. thanks for having me on. we want you stick around. a brazen shooter shoots at a random bus? or were passengers actually the target here? we have the details next. er allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement. know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience with personalized guidance and online tools. visit a branch, call or go online today. [ 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. great taste. [ m'm... ] [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.®

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27 minutes past the hour. the saga of oregon's battle comes to an end as john kitzhaber's resignation comes to an end. kate brown will become the nation's first openly bisexual governor. the next story is disturbing. new surveillance video just released shows what happened

when a lone gunman opened fire on a kansas city bus last year injuring a 15-year-old girl. garrett haight reports. >> reporter: a surveillance camera on the outside of the bus show as man in the hoodity waiting at the bus stop. his hands in the bus stop. as the bus drives away he starts shooting firing six shots before the butt gets away. inside a teenage couple sits back the back door. they scramble for cover. she is hit. police respond from the shots fired system. they found a 15-year-old girl shot and bleeding and rushed her to children's mercy. at the time police believe the victim may have known the shooter. if she wasn't his target and reason, she may have known who was. >> we're still putting together the pieces of the puzzle. from what we understand, this was not a random act and our victim may know who the suspect

is. >> reporter: now police say they believe it was the girl's boyfriend seated next to her on the bus in the black hoodie who may have been the intented target. more than a month later the gunman is still on the run. >> "way too early" starts right now. ♪ ♪ >> seems like everyone has been affected by the snow. schools and federal offices in washington, d.c. were shut down today after the city received four inches of snow in the first major snowstorm of the season. or as boston residents put it are you [ bleep ] kidding me? four inches of snow? i left for work this out of the second story window. cowboy up. good morning. i'm joe scarborough. it's wednesday, february 18. welcome to wait wait. we begin this morning overseas with the latest reports of more

barbaric acts by islamic state militants. two iraqi political leaders confirm a police chief's report of isis having burned alive nearly four dozen people in the town of el baghdadi just outside of bagdad. some are believed to be members of iraq security forces. it comes as iraq's ambassador to the u.n. says the militants may be harvesting organs amid allegations they're doing this to fund their terrorist activity. meanwhile nbc news has confirmed the u.s. will begin training and equipping moderate opposition forces in syria. some would say about three years late. the official says they're going to be fully vetted first and also says no decision has been made about allowing rebels to call in air strikes. back in washington a spokeswoman for the state department is defending comments she made on "hardball" about how the united states can beat islamic state militants with