this goes live in about a minute. they're hoping this is going to dominate the headlines on the republican side of the politica. "first look" is up next. it's friday, january 22nd. right now on "first look," tens of millions in the storm's path. thousands of flights already canceled or delayed. preparing for a historic nor'easter, and where it will hit the hardest. in the race for president, ted cruz coming down hard on donald trump, saying the billionaire would make deals with democrats. and the donald fires back. >> but here's a united states senator, republican, doesn't have support of one other republican senator. there's something wrong there. >> but trump now faces a growing list of conservatives lining up against him. a case of excessive force as a motorcyclist is awarded 180 grand after a traffic incident. plus authorities need your help in cracking this million dollar crime.

then a wandering toddler on the loose on a busy road. a half-court thriller, and much more on a frontic friday. "first look" starts right now. good morning, i'm gigi stone woods. more than 86 million people across 16 states are bracing for a monster winter blizzard. storm preps from mississippi to new york are under way at this moment, as some areas are expecting more than 30 inches of snow. five states plus parts of georgia and washington d.c. are already under states of emergency. federal offices in the nation's capital are set to close early today ahead of the storm, which could break records set all the way back in 1922. the d.c. metro has canceled service starting at 11:00 p.m. tonight, through sunday. now some drivers on i-495 decided that they would test the ice when their cars got stuck, although this one didn't have much better luck. all baltimore schools are closed today and nearly 2500 flights have been canceled for friday. thousands more have already been

canceled or delayed for this weekend, impacting at least 40 airports around the country. the storm is starting to make landfall in some states in the south. this drone footage shows snow instead of fans piling into the university of tennessee's football stadium. and at least five fatalities and multiple states have been attributed to icy road conditions. meteorologist bill karens is here with the very latest forecast. bill, what should we be expecting? >> well, conditions are quickly getting worse. we just heard a report of 5 inches of snow already in little rock, arkansas. we just got new blizzard warnings out for philadelphia and the new york city areas, too. the one thing that changed overnight the forecast has gotten a little worse for new york city. the storm instead of shifting south has shifted slightly to the north. that's why the blizzard warnings are up from new york city to islip. wilmington, baltimore, fredricksburg. and blizzard warnings doesn't mean how much snow you're going to get. it means you're going to see zero visibility for about three hours, if not longer with winds gusting to 50 to 60 miles per hour. that's really intense stuff.

here's the latest snowfall projection. the purple a foot plus from central kentucky all the way back up here to new york city. the bull's-eye, this two foot snow, is still between roanoke, washington, d.c. and just to the north of the richmond area. that's where we're going to have severe impacts developing during the day today. snowfall predictions. nashville could get up to six inches of snow. that's humanitarian for central tennessee. greensboro almost a foot. d.c., 23 inches, baltimore 23. the shenandoah valley possibly up to 30 inches of snow. and further to the north, a little bit worse for new york, up to a foot in central park, 19 inches in philadelphia. a crippling storm this weekend, really from new york city all the way down to about richmond. >> we are bracing ourselves. thanks, bill. let's go now to nbc's jay gray who is on the ground in roanoke, virginia. how's it looking out there, so far? >> gigi, yeah, at this point we haven't seen any snow but we know it is on the way, perhaps within the next hour or so. and once it starts, expect it to continue through saturday

evening. emergency managers here preparing for as much as 30 inches of snow in some areas. they do expect record snowfalls here. and to combat that they've got the national guard on the ground, 500 troops, and more could be on the way. every available state police officer is out, and ready for this storm. and power crews have been lined up across the region preparing for those high winds that bill talked about, and this snow, which could take power away from some of the residents here. look, we're on the leading edge as far as the east coast is concerned. this could affect, as you've talked about, 80 million to 90 million people. all about to start within the next hour to hour and a half or so, according to the latest radar images. what we have expect to see then is that strong wind, blizzard, and whiteout conditions that bill talked about, and again this continuing for quite some time. people here bracing for what they expect to be two days of heavy snow and perhaps a full week without power in some cases. gigi, could be a rough weekend.

>> don't drive if you can help it. jay gray, thanks. with just ten days to the iowa caucuses, establishment republicans are taking sides. ted cruz or donald trump. for some it's a pretty tough choice. >> if you nominate trump and cruz i think you get the same outcol. you know whether it's death by being shot or poisoning, does it really matter? >> a new poll shows trump surging to an 11-point lead in the nation's first voting state. but whatever remained of the truce between cruz and trump now appears to definitely be dead. trump will air a new attack ad against cruz today. >> if as a voter you think what we need is more republicans in washington to cut a deal with harry reid and nancy pelosi and chuck schumer, then i guess donald trump is your guy. >> you know, his new line of attack is that i've become establishment. oh, give me a break. and they just came out in north carolina, trump 38, cruz is second at 16. and cruz is going down. he's going down. no, he's having a hard time.

he looks like a nervous wreck. he's going down. he had his moment. he had his moment. he had his moment and he blew it. >> late last night, prominent conservative magazine national review took a stand against the republican front-runner unveiling today's cover, here it is, "against trump" calling him, quote, a menace to conservatism. and it has contributions from a bunch of leading right wing thinkers, william kristol, eric erickson, glenn beck. as a result the rnc has disinvited the national review from the february 25th debate. i guess that's the price they have to pay. trump responded late last night. >> the national review is a dying paper. its circulation is way down. not very many people read it anymore. i mean people don't even think about the national review. so i guess they want to get a little publicity. but that's a dying paper. >> trump's characteristic insult very him. turning now to the democrats, nbc's edward lawrence in washington with more on who is in good shape with ten days

to iowa. >> gigi, that depends on who you ask. senator sanders, senator bernie sanders in new hampshire told the crowd that he would win new hampshire and iowa. he says that we've had enough of politics, or establishment politics and he countered clinton's charge that he's unelectable. sanders pointing to polls that show that he would beat all of the republican candidates by a greater margin than clinton. >> secretary clinton defeats mr. trump by nine points, we beat him by 23 points. all of which reaffirms my love for the smart people in the state of new hampshire. >> and hillary clinton's been getting a boost from her husband, former president bill clinton. in las vegas last night he told a crowd that his wife would be a more inclusive president, including all races and religions. hillary clinton in iowa told caucusgoers to go out and caucus for her. february 1st may be very cold, some snow on the ground, so she's very worried, also, about a surge from senator bernie

sanders. so she's asked her supporters to ask friends to go out and caucus for her and make sure they show up. gigi, we should see these attacks intensify as the days draw down closer to the caucus. >> no doubt. edward lawrence, thanks. a jury has awarded $180,000 to an oregon man hit by an officer during a 2012 traffic stop. you can see it in this individual crow. the officer knocks the motorcyclist off his bike at a light while pulling him over for traffic violations. wilkins gets up, the officer kicks him, breaking his collar bone, fracturing his rib, all while pointing his gun at him. in a statement, the oregon state police actually said they were disappointed in the outcome adding they feel the officer did not violate procedure. that's some pretty harsh procedure over there. a new record involving air travel. it shows a lot of americans were packing heat in 2015, if you can believe it. the tsa says it seized more guns last year than ever before. over 2600 of them, and most of

them were loaded. at the airport. don't they know it's against the rules? this is an average of seven guns per day. found in carry-ons. the most guns were found at airports in phoenix, denver, dallas, houston, and atlanta. travelers carrying firearms or ammunition to checkpoints can face civil fines from the tsa and possible criminal charges from local police. after four years as a prisoner in iran, this morning, a former marine is back home. amir hekmati arrived back in flint, michigan, yesterday. he was part of that prisoner exchange along with three other people. hekmati was accused of spying and sentenced to death in january 2012. but the iranian supreme court overturned the sentence. he was awaiting a second trial while his family worked to get him released. just after landing, he said he was happy to be back. >> i appreciate everyone's support. it's great to be back in flint, my hometown. i love this city, love its people. they've been so good to me and my family and we're very grateful.

happy to finally be home. it's been a very long road, a long journey. >> hekmati says his marine training helped him survive. now as he gets settled in flint, michigan, there are some big developments in the water crisis there. the epa administrator for the region has resigned, and the agency has issued an emergency order requiring the state to take immediate actions to protect the public health. congresswoman brenda lawrence's office tells msnbc that state's embattled governor has been invited to testify before congress. now before that governor rick snyder will appear exclusively on msnbc later this morning on "morning joe." president obama says the administration will provide $80 million in federal funding to the state for the situation. our children should not have to be worried about the water that they're drinking in america's cities. that's not something that we should accept. >> question morable. the nearly 100,000 people of flint, michigan, have been warned not to drink unfiltered

tap water and the national guard has been distributing bottled water there. let's get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning. >> hi, gigi. happy friday to you. check the model of your child's car saturday. brie tax child safety is recalling more than 71,000 infant car seats because the carrying handles can break. the recall covers the be safe 35, be safe 35 elite, and be safe 35 travel system models made between october of 2014 and last july. britax has received nearly 75 complaints and reports of one minor injury. amazon is offering full refunds for customers who bought hoverboards. the popular device that has been implicated in several fires and explosions. the consumer product safety commission has investigated 40 such incidents. the agency is calling on other retailers to also take action. and the government says automakers recalled 51 million vehicles in the u.s. last year. that's the second highest total ever. automakers and safety regulators have come under fire from

congress and others in the wake of gm's delayed recall of faulty ignition switches. gigi, back over to you. >> okay, landon dowdy, thanks. in sports the lakers retiring kobe bryant will be a starter in his 18th and final nba all-star game. bryant received a league high 1.9 million votes followed by steph curry, who got 1.6 million. next to a big night in denver it began with rocky the mascot leading the charge with a blizzard of silly string raining down on the fan who had earlier tossed water at rocky. you don't want to mess with him. he's tough. now to the action, the lay-up converting a three-point play to help memphis defeat denver at home 102-101. for the play of the night, halftime and the no look over the head heave ho, that's charlie blackman who hit that baby. nice job. quite a night in denver. authorities need your help in solving a million dollar crime. plus a toddler gets away from his parents, and wanders down a busy road. details up next. stay with us.

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earlier this month an oregon sheriff's deputy came across a tadler in the road. the boy, seen running down the center line, had gotten out of the community center. the deputy quickly got out of the harm's way, the boy out of harm's way, back to his parents who were frantically searching for the child, as you can imagine. former oklahoma city cop daniel hold claw was sentenced to 262 years in prison. in december he was convicted on 18 counts of rape and other offenses. his lawyers say he will appeal. police in texas have just released this video, they're still searching for two thieves who stole nearly $1 million worth of drugs and other items from a pharmacy new year's eve. must have been heavy to carry. police say the pair spent nearly two hours stealing prescription drugs and cutting into the store's safe. mom to the rescue for jeb bush. and a duck dynasty divide. "scrambled politics" is next. if it doesn't work fast...

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that may put you at five times greater risk of stroke they can pool together in the heart, forming a clot that can break free and travel upstream to the brain, where it can block blood flow and cause a stroke. but if you have afib that's not caused by a heart valve problem, pradaxa can help stop clots from forming. pradaxa was even proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke, in a clinical trial without the need for regular blood tests. and, in the rare event of an emergency, pradaxa is the only oral blood thinner other than warfarin with a specific reversal treatment to help your body clot normally again. pradaxa is not for people who have had a heart valve replacement. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke or blood clots ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before any planned medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, and sometimes, fatal bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding. and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk

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>> and my brother has been a great help to me. my mother, i just saw an ad, literally, i didn't know that the campaign was doing it. she's going to be on the air coming up here at some point, tomorrow, i think, paid advertising by the campaign. >> oh, help from mom that's sweet. he needs it. after the town hall bush said he shouldn't have mentioned it. oh, well. hillary clinton releasing a new ad with the last half hour within the last half hour touting her skills in global affairs. and it's a moment we're sure you've been waiting for the official endorsement from duck dynasty star willie robertson. aren't they always doing this? >> it's the man i'm standing behind this year to be the next president of the united states, to help make america great again, ladies and gentlemen, donald trump! >> where the dynasty goes, the voters will follow. and in case you're keeping score at home, you'll remember his dad phil endorsed rival ted cruz last week. trouble in paradise. there's this person evidently

not a fan of the gop front-runner in his obituary a man in pittsburgh concluded with, in lieu of flowers please do not vote for donald trump. wow. a deathbed wish. if you think donald trump's responses to attacks are getting a little bit cookie cutter look at this. the twitter account pour me coffee predicted this counterattack. sadly failing national review needs trump to sell magazines going broke no one reads. sad. then an hour later the actual response from trump, national review is a failing publication that has lost its way. circulation is way down with its influence being at an all-time low. sad. wow. that is almost to the letter. senator marco rubio was on "the tonight show" with jimmy fallon last night to tell his empire state building wedding proposal story. >> so i got her up there. i proposed. and then i was afraid, i don't know why, this thing, i thought she was going to drop the ring off the side so i grabbed the ring back and i gave it back to her when we got to the bottom. but i was just worried i would lose the ring. like it would fall off the side.

you're not going to find it. >> just don't go to the empire state building. >> i know but that's where they made sleepless in seattle. they should have done it out where by somewhere flatter. >> taking the ring away kind of takes the romance out of it. that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." so let's bring in political analyst and best-selling author ellis henican. good morning, ellis. >> you know, you can kill someone if you drop one of those ring off the empire state building. >> being very cautious. well hand that to marco rube crow. but let's go to the democrats. what about hillary clinton? all of a sudden, softening her tone against bernie sanders. it seems like maybe the attacks weren't working. they backfired a little bit. >> i know yesterday was national hug day. i don't know if that's connected. she's actually gotten a lot lighter. a lot nicer. we've had a week or so of kind of pretty rough, some even called them shrill attacks, and i don't think it was working so well. so maybe the kinder, gentler hillary might be a better idea. >> we'll see how voters respond. speaking of which, the national

review coming out against donald trump, is this going to backfire? is this going to just galvanize his supporters, do you think? >> well, that was not a kinder, gentler approach, was it, from the national review. >> against trump was the title. >> listen, here is the battle right now among thinking republicans. which one of these guys is worse for the party in the long run? and neither one is saying that either one of them is going to necessarily help the party that much. but the anti-trump people say he's going to kill the party if he's the nominee and the anti-cruz people say oh, my god we're going to go down the tubes if this guy is our nominee and that really is the battle right now. it's kind of fascinating. >> and some are having a hard time choosing between them. senator lindsey graham saying it was like choosing between poison or getting some, some crazy quote like that. >> that is right. and he's with jeb and i don't know how far that's going to go. >> so how do you see things shaking out? we're heading towards a very tight race. quick. >> you're right. we got to decide. trump has had the momentum in iowa. he seems well ahead in new hampshire. if cruz doesn't pull it out in

iowa, i think it's a problem. >> yeah. it certainly will be. ellis hennen, thanks so much. the political pressure is building as iowa quickly approaches as we've been talking about some of the best comments of the week are coming up next. taking control of your health isn't easy. but cigna is there for you. literally. just download our free coach by cigna app. for personalized programs from a team of health coaches to help you achieve your wellness goals. cigna. together, all the way. does the smell of a freshly fill you with optimism? do you love your wireless keyboard

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as iowa quickly approaches, the political rhetoric has hit a fever pitch both from the candidates and the late night talkers. here's a look at the week that was. >> donald trump continues to lead in the pots but he recently said if he loses the election he'll go back to building skyscrapers. when asked where he'd build them he said, right in front of the white house. >> but donald trump is not the first american candidate to get so far in politics knowing so

little. he's the second. >> you ready for a commander in chief who will let our warriors do their job and go kick isis' ass? >> twitter sent down for almost three hours. it wasn't good. no. in fact i heard donald trump actually had to fax his insults to people. >> 50 points behind the inevitable, inevitable democratic nominee. that inevitable candidate ain't so inevitable today. >> senator sanders and i share many of the same goals. but we have different records, and different ideas about how to drive progress. he suggested we invite iranian troops into syria. that is like asking the arsonist to be the firefighter. >> bernie sanders is having a very good week among those likely to vote in the primary, his favorability rating is 91%. that is incredibly high. as are many of his supporters.

>> i'm gigi stone woods. this is "first look" on msnbc. don't forget to like us on facebook. "way too early" starts right now. stick around. the weather channel is calling this winter storm jonas. they say it will be an historic storm that could wreak havoc across the mid-atlantic. usually when a jonas wreaks havoc it's because nick jonas released a photo on instagram. but this jonas could drop two feet of snow. washington, d.c. is supposed to get especially hard. they had an inch of snow yesterday. traffic got so bad, even president obama's motorcade got stuck. they -- he had to glide back to the white house on hoverboard one. it was scary. yeah, historic, crippling and paralyzing. those will just some of the words being used to describe this monster winter storm. now bearing down on the east coast. it is expected to be so bad that the federal government plans to

close up shop early today. and neck and neck in the iowa polls, with the caucuses just ten days away now. hillary clinton and her supporters turned their attacks on bernie sanders up a few notches. and on the republican side, front-runner donald trump, tries to seal the deal in iowa. but not at the conservative national review gets its way. it is 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early." good morning, everyone. it is friday, january 22nd. i'm shiba russell. we want to begin with that monster winter storm taking aim at the east coast right now. more than 85 million americans, roughly one in four, could be impacted in at