>> thank you. >> and if you want to play the most awesome game in cable news, send us an e-mail rachel at msnbc.com. >> "weekends with alex witt" starts now. breaking news, an historic storm up and down the east coast. these are live pictures of washington, d.c., philadelphia and new york city as snow paralyzes parts of the region and in some places the worst is yet to come. good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt here in new york city. we have a big development overnight including a new and dramatic rise in some snow totals. let's bring you the very latest right here now. in new york city a dramatic change in the forecast. the city could see up to 2 1/2 feet of snow, and that may come as a surprise to some of you just waking up here. the storm could paralyze the

entire i-95 corridor from washington to new york. well into monday. tens of millions of people from northern georgia to new york are being affected by this storm. the nation's capital right now virtually paralyzed. heavy snow expected into the afternoon. wind gusts could reach 40 miles per hour. casing some whiteouts to be concerned about. the storm is blamed for at least ten deaths in four states. some in traffic accidents along these icy roads. in kentucky, thousands of motorists are stranded along forships of interstate -- portions of interstate 45. some have been trapped since friday and you're about to see video that just came in. you can see a line of trucks stopped along the side of the interstate. they're waiting for emergency vehicles to clear out the roads. more than 7,600 flights have been cancelled. that's about 15% of total flights. well, we have you covered with

reporters from north carolina to washington, d.c. and in new york and we're covering the latest on the storm. but first, let's go to msnbc meteorologist bill cakarins. i know you had a long night, so take us through the latest. >> we're about halfway through the storm right now. so we have halfway to go. we have had high snow totals in kentucky and tennessee. kentucky still the leader on the board. but we'll get higher than that as we go through the day. washington, d.c., at the airport, so far, seven inches. these reports are a little old. we're waiting for everyone to go out and take their measurements and give them back to us. but baltimore at six, philadelphia at four. so we'll give you updates on those. as far as the radar goes here, the storm itself is now located off of areas around the maryland/delaware border. it's going to kind of linger throughout the day a little bit. i put a -- white shows you where the snow is. when we get inside the white there's bluer shading and that's the intense stuff. that's where you get the two inches of snow an hour and all is right over the top 06 -- of

long island right now. if our director can throw up the shot of times square, this is what two inches an hour of snow look like in times square. the visibility -- that building in the back ground there obviously with all the advertisements on it, that's a quarter mile away. we're about quarter mile to half a mile of visibility right now. we're getting a break in philadelphia. kind of got into the dry slot. further to the south, washington, d.c., was in the dry slot earlier. now you're filling back in. you notice it's really picking up. west of i-95, north of the d.c. area, heavy snow in hagerstown. from hagerstown to gettysburg, you can get the snow in. over to the coast, that's not going to make it to the west. it should pick up in intensity, maybe an additional six to ten in d.c.

areas up towards new york could possibly get an additional foot of snow on top of what's already on the ground. let me take you through the timing of this. 9:00 this morning the blue is the snow. that's the heavier band of snow still right over new york city. that's why the worst of the storm in new york city is all day today. not tapering until this evening. heavy snow around washington, d.c. let me take you to about 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 this evening, into southern new england. providence and cape cod, blowing and drifting snow there. new york city southward, periodic periods of snow, but we won't see the heavy stuff until tonight. that's when the plows will try to catch up and hopefully the drifting is not that bad. sunday morning, we're done. it will be a day of cleanup. so hopefully everyone can get ready for your monday. this is the additional snowfall amounts. we still think our computers are hinting possibly an additional 20 inches of snow in new york. 19 in islip.

wilmington at ten. we're not done yesterday, new jersey to newark. i know we were talking all week long d.c. had two 20-inch snowfalls in its history, this is a chance it will be an historic storm in the big apple. >> i want to talk about the blowing winds that can't be discounted. the snow drifts from that is what's so dangerous. >> our gauges are working right now. 48 mile per hour gusts in ocean city. philadelphia is now gusting to 40 miles per hour. so to me, blizzard criteria -- we have to meet sustained winds of 35 miles per hour for three straight hours. we haven't done that in any areas that had a quarter mile of snow. we have had three dusts on the coast. up to hurricane force gusts over 74 miles an hour. we had one 82 miles per hour on the coast of delaware.

we're getting into the high tide cycle so as the sun is coming up, they're watching the 12 foot waves off the coast, their hearts are pounding. especially jersey shore to maryland. >> thanks, bill karins. well, an overnight shift in the forecast raised predictions from eight inches to 18, and potentially more. msnbc's adam reese is in central park right now. good morning to you. is anyone but you out in this mess? >> reporter: well, actually, alex, there are a couple of dog walkers if you can believe it. there are joggers out here. heavy, blinding snow. blizzard like conditions out here in central park. it is coming down at about an inch to two inches an hour. when all is said and done as you heard bill say, it could be between a foot to two feet. maybe all the way up to three feet. now, the mayor declaring a winter weather emergency here in new york today. that means they're on high alert. all agencies are active today.

stay off the roads, when i looked out the window, i said, boy, in would be a good day to stay in bed. they have 6,000 miles of streets they need to plow. they have 2,400 salt spreaders and plows and they have the whole city covered. now, a big focus is flooding. governor christie as you heard, back in new jersey. governor cuomo here in new york is more concerned about flooding than this snow. he'll keep an eye on places like long island. brooklyn, even here in manhattan along the battery where they could have some possible flooding. back here in central park, it's a winter wonderland. there's a bunch of dog walkers and joggers and in a couple of hours with we'll see plenty of sledders. >> i can imagine up. we should note we'll be speaking with governor cuomo in half an hour on the broadcast. real quick, are you seeing pl s plows, salters, anything like that? i have to admit i came into work a couple of hours ago along the westside highway. i didn't see a lot yet.

i was thinking they'd want to get ahead of this in new york city, but i don't know you can given what's coming down? >> reporter: here in manhattan i have seen a bunch of plows and salt spreaders. they're hitting the main roads and then the secondary roads and then the tertiary roads. there was one that came through here in central park. we have seen some police cars come through central park, keeping an eye and making sure that people are staying safe. obviously, plenty of dogs enjoying this snow. >> well, at least somebody is. adam reese, thank you so much. bundle up. let's go to nbc's luke russert. he's in the heart of the storm in freedom plaza. what is it like there, luke? >> reporter: hey, good morning there, alex. well, it's been coming down steadily since yesterday afternoon. the height of the storm was 1:30 a.m. this morning and is showing no signs of letting up quite yet. expect it to be ongoing through

tonight. less severity than right now. so what exactly is going on in the streets of d.c.? absolutely nothing. believe it or not, you can usually see the u.s. capitol behind me but it's disappeared in the blizzard. i have seen a few trucks trying to plow the roads. but remember, this is a northern most city with a southern mind set. we are not good at snow. it is something that we often get mocked on by the transplants who move here from the northern part or the midwestern part of the country. all that being said, the mayor was emphatic yesterday for everybody to get off the streets by 3:00 p.m. they have seemed to have taken her advice. very few cars out, if any. and the ones that are are suvs. the big issue moving forward, there are reports of thunder snow, lightning and whatnot. the big issue is power. as of right now, this snow is light and fluffy. it's not that heavy, wet stuff

that's dangerous to trees. a lot of the surrounding suburbs all built around older trees. it's very leafy here. the worry is if they fall on above ground power lines people could be out of power for a number of days because the plows can't get there, hence, the power workers won't get there. i spoke to pepco officials, the local municipality. they're feeling great right now because it's light and fluffy, but if it turns to heavy and wet, there's more of a worry that it becomes a safety concern, alex. >> thank you for that. luke russert, we'll see you again. let's go to north carolina, in some parts 18 inches has fallen in the last 24 hours. let's go to sarah dallof. we heard luke talk about the potential for power outages. how about there? it looks dark behind you but it's early. >> reporter: it is early and dark. the clouds have been hanging

over charlotte for the last day and a half. right now, some very light snow and this light snow is going to continue on and off until noon today. that is when the weather is expected to calm down, the snow expected to lift. american airlines will resume operations. you can remember they cancelled all flights into and out of the airport yesterday. so that is the good news. it is still a very dangerous situation here, at least six deaths attributed in the state to the weather. the roads are still slick. the crews have laid down more than 2 million gallons of brine and then the rains came and washed it away. so there's the possibility of black ice on the roads. they're very slick as people begin to venture out over the weekend. you and luke mentioned the power outages. about 144,000 customers in the da, this morning. the crews are working around the clock to restore the power. that's the power company's sign

on the headlines. the big, beautiful trees which in great weather are a fantastic amenity to have. once the snow and ice starts coming, the branches snap and then they snap the power lines. >> thank you for the heads up from charlotte. do stay safe there. and we told all of you about thousands trapped on a kentucky highway. that includes andrew jaygo who has been stuck for more than 12 hours now. andrew is joining me over the phone. first of all, what's your status? how are you doing? >> i'm doing well. just trying to stay warm. running the vehicle every 40 minutes and then shutting it off to save gas. just patiently waiting for something to change. >> wow. how did you get stuck, andrew, what happened? >> well, none of us really here

got stuck in the snow. i think we just got stacked up behind an accident. and then other accidents that had to get cleared. and then we just sat here waiting for that to happen and as those accidents are cleared i suppose more accidents were occurring. that's just the information i have been able to figure out by looking at the kentucky state police twitter. >> you have been stuck for how long now? >> i'm nearing 17 hours. >> good heavens. >> andrew, did you go out with any sort of provisions? i know people don't necessarily assume the worst, but given the weather reports, did you bring water bottles or have a blanket or anything like that with you? >> i don't have a blanket. i stayed at a hotel in athens, tennessee, last night. and i was able to get my hands on some water bottles. but that was just because those are items i like to have while i'm driving. i wasn't really expecting things

to be this bad. i was hoping that plows would be ahead of this. >> what's your final destination? >> london, ontario, canada. >> you have a heck of a ride ahead of you. how about any officials? are you seeing emergency responders, police? are you seeing evidence of, you know, salt and salt trucks and snowplows out there? >> yeah. throughout the evening and throughout the night, there have been a lot of plow -- there's been a lot of plow activity on the southbound highway. and emergency vehicles going both ways. also i'm just at the edge of the daniel boon forest and there's a u.s. 25 bridge that runs over the highway. there have been a number of emergency vehicles going back and forth, but also private vehicles and even commercial vehicles. and just as i'm talking now two commercial vehicles are headed freely down the southbound highway. so lots of activity, but not

quite sure what's happening. i can only presume that it's a pretty big mess that i have to deal with if we've been waiting this long. >> i appreciate you phoning in. i hope we don't have to talk to you again, but i'll have the producers stay in touch with you. best of luck. >> thanks. if you have yet to hear the new forecast, get ready, bill karins has the latest snow totals and news that one area let go hit much harder than expected and plus all the blizzard warnings. >> brakes just locked up and i slid right into the back of their car. going to be a common sight out there. look at central park. live for you. winter storm '16 well under way. plaque psoriasis... ...isn't it time to let the... ...real you shine... ...through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently.

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at 18 past the hour, that's times square, you have to take my word for it. the snow blowing and the limited visibility. this breaking news, dramatic shift in expected snow totals today, especially here in the new york city area. it's what it looks like on the ground in philadelphia. well, we're giving you the actual bird's-eye view, lots of snow blowing. that's very typical for what we're getting across this east coast terrific storm. governors in ten states declaring a state of emergency. msnbc meteorologist bill karins here. let's get on the latest snow totals. >> getting some new updates and the emergency management office in philadelphia reported 15 inches. and stephanie abrams measured that in central park. and this tells us how much additional snow.

the possibility of another 11 inches on top of it. we will get close to the historic 20 inch snowfall in the city. the area that will be crushed the worst, the area paralyzed the worst is the areas to the north and west. where we thought the higher terrain in between northern virginia and maryland. and an additional 20 to 30 inches from hagerstown to gettysburg, to shenandoah. let's talk about d.c. we need to get to the top of 18.7 inches. notice a lot of these were a long time. 1899, so 94 years since we had the 20 inch snowfall in washington, d.c. here's the latest radar. light snow in d.c., very heavy to the north of there. so d.c. gets a break now. it should fill back in though later this morning. >> thanks for staying on top of

things. in about 20 minutes or so, i'll be speaking with andrew cuomo about the blizzard watch in effect for new york. as bill mentioned the expectations changed for the worse over overnight. renewed tensions between donald trump and ted cruz. the two rivals are among several candidates in iowa today making a last pitch to voters before the caucuses nine days from now. in the midst of their fight in iowa, donald trump's campaign released an ad painting ted cruz as pro amnesty on immigration and cruz followed with an ad of his own. >> sounded like you wanted the bill to pass. >> well, of course i wanted the bill to pass. my amendment to pass. what my amendment -- >> you said the bill. >> is take citizenship off the table. it doesn't mean -- it doesn't mean that i supported the other aspects of the bill. >> i think eminent domain is wonderful. >> it made him rich. like when trump colluded with atlantic city insiders to

bulldoze the home of an elderly woman for a parking lot at his casino. >> meanwhile, jeb bush is among a handful of candidates in new hampshire for first in the nation presidential town hall. a major preprimary event. chris christie was supposed to be there, but returned to new jersey ahead of the storm. christie addressed why he decided to get off the campaign trail. >> the whole idea that when a governor is out of state somehow they're not in charge is laughable. you know? i know everything that's going on here in a realtime basis. so i can respond in a realtime basis, but i'm happy to be back. i'm doing my job and doing what i need to do. i wouldn't be any place else. this is my choice. >> let's bring in "washington post" political reporter philip bump. thank you for getting to the studio. appreciate that in the snow. we can't avoid the topic of the day, it's the weather. you're writing about it, i see. what might that do to the primary results next week if iowa or new hampshire gets snowed in? >> sure, a good study a few

years ago that looked at the effects of weather on what happens to turnout and they found an actual correlation. the worse the weather. the worst the turnout. it's not surprising but it's anecdotal for years. we saw for example in new jersey in the wake of the super storm sandy that hit in 2012 right before the presidential election it dramatically shifted with how they had to deal with the election here. this is an election that's close on both the democratic and the republican side in iowa. so if it's very cold and snowy that could very much shift what actually happens on election day. >> i think you're talking about superstorm sandy, it got 60% of the voters out in new jersey. president obama won the state. we're a week from the iowa caucuses a new cnn poll which has donald trump leading there by 11 points but you write that trying to predict the caucus result is basically a fool's errand. >> right. >> why is that? how should we look at trump's numbers in that context? >> sure. so part of this goes back to my point about turnout.

trump is up board has generally by from people who are less likely to actually go and cause. they're newer voters, usually disaffected. that's part of his appeal so he needs to make sure they get out to the polls. you see him increasingly focus on go vote, go vote. he understands that as well. i think the polls show a tight race. you can't look at one poll because different pollsters use different methodology, get different results. good to look at the trends and the averages. even those can be misleading. generally what we're seeing in iowa, close races on both sides so donald trump needs to make sure his supporters actually go and support him. >> on the democratic side there, those iowa polls have been all over the place this week. you caution the big shifts rptsdz signs that the -- aren't signs that the race is moving that much. what do the polls tell us if not actual changes in the popularity for a candidate? >> taking in the aggregate, they show a race that is fairly

close. it's not clear how close it is. we saw earlier this month the polls were grouped together a little bit more than they are now. it's a good thing they're not grouped together. as you get closer to election day, polls start to look alike, because pollsters are like this is what it's supposed to be. that doesn't happen a whole lot. but what you want to see is polls that actually reflect how people feel. so we look a little deeper in the poll, who's planning on turning out, who they want to support, what the demographics looks like. it's a close raise. it's tough to say who' ahead and who's behind. >> and there was a bunch of those arguing against trump's nomination. and crude as the donald himself it is written. can he still win if he's turned the conservative establishment against him? >> absolutely. you know what, it was a very

smart media play by the national review. they got a lot of attention. probably going to sell a lot of the magazines. but the people who listen to the conservative intellectuals have decided they don't like donald trump. to some extent this is preaching to the choir. also the people who are included in there are not all intellectual leaders on the right. i'm not sure this is going to have a huge effect. i don't think it will have much of an effect from dissueding people from voting for donald trump. >> thank you. safe travels. across the east coast, it's threatening massive coastal flooding in new jersey. but first, a look at the monster storm as seen from the international space station. astronaut scott telkelly tweete this image a short time ago. the sudden loss of pasture became a serious problem for a family business. faced with horses that needed feeding and a texas drought that sent hay prices soaring,

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this is the story of the weekend. blizzard warnings in place in virginia to long island, new york. forecasters say this storm is so huge, one in seven americans could get at least half a foot of snow by tomorrow. and it's not just the snow amounts that has people worried. down on the jersey shore, they're concerned about a huge storm surge that could bring flooding. governor christie spoke about this on the "today" show a short time ago. >> as of now, we're not expecting any type of major flooding incidents along the coast and they'll be better off from the snow perspective as rehema mentioned in her report. i think in other parts of the state we're getting much heavier snow. >> nbc's rehema ellis is joining us from point pleasant. this shot has been going in and out because of the weather there. oh, look at that. >> reporter: alex, i'm sorry. i might have to turn my head from you. the wind is so intense, it feels

like pips and needles hitting me in the face. you can see the shot behind me of the ocean and the white caps -- >> there you have it right there, everybody. pretty dramatic. rehema, you're back with us? >> reporter: can you hear me, alex? >> i can hear you. we're getting in and out. rehema, turn around if you need to. wow. right there. >> reporter: but -- out here. along -- >> all right, everyone -- >> reporter: to be concerned about. >> well, we're concerned for your safety. thank you, rehema. look at her. look at this storm surge there. all right. those are our shot.

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learn more at beyondpetfood.com 35 past the hour. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." in new york city, a dramatic change in the snow total forecast. the city can see up to 2 inform feet of snow and that can come as a surprise to many of you. tens of millions of people in northern georgia to new york are affected by the storm. more than 7,600 flights have been cancelled since friday, 15% of total flights. the storm is blamed for at least ten deaths in four states. some in traffic accidents along the icy roads. in kentucky, thousands are stranded along portions of interstate 75. some trapped since friday. in this video you can see a line of trucks that stopped along the side of the interstate.

we have reports from nbc's jacob rascon in philadelphia, and kristen dahlgren at new york laguardia's airport. but first, let's check in with msnbc meteorologist bill karins. >> we just saw rehema ellis, and you saw the winds are so strong. we are seeing a four foot storm surge along the coastlines of southern new jersey and also down to delaware. i mean, that's four feet on top of the normal astronomical high tide because we have a full moon right now. we have the wave action on top of that. it's up to 10 to 12 feet. we have dune erosion going on right now. unfortunately we keep the water and the winds this high, we may get property damage out of it. we saw the 55 mile wind gusts and that's straight into the southern half of the new jersey coastline. less in ocean city. interi interior sections the wind is not as bad.

just got new updated snow totals from the washington, d.c. area. bethesda at 16 inches. someone at the white house stepped outside this morning and took a measurement, 13 inches at the white house. frederick, maryland, 12 inches. a lot of foot reports in and around the d.c. area. and that's similar up to philadelphia. i want to focus on the new york city and throw up the shots around new york city, because the blue band is as heavy as the snow gets in new york city. that return on my radar is an indication of about two inches an hour. at jfk airport, seven inches on the ground right now, and in the last hour they had three inches of snow alone when the heavy band moved through. that's shifted north of jfk and into manhattan and the bronx and headed up to westchester and bergen county and starting to cross into long island too. that's a serious band. there's some steadier snow here in central new jersey.

dry slot we call it, so you'll have a bit of a break, then the snow will pick up later. additional snowfall, still amazing. jfk, six to eight inches on the ground and we could add another foot and a half on top of that. i mean, this is going to be very incredible as we go throughout this day. it's hard to measure anyways with the winds gusting. >> absolutely. makes a big difference. bill karins, thank you so much for that. we mentioned the airports, to philadelphia, where an unprecedented move, all flights have been cancelled today. nbc's jacob rascon is on the ground for us. bill said you're in a little bit of a snow hole. are you seeing the reduction in the snow coming down? >> reporter: no, i'm going to dispute that map. it hasn't stopped snowing here at all. and in fact, in the last ten minutes i almost fell over because of a wind gust. we have had sustained winds above 30 miles an hour. right where i am, there's two feet of snow. this is because the wind is pushing it up where i am.

here's a yard stick, it will tell us it's two feet. but we have officially gotten -- the weather channel said about 15 inches but the snow is not expected to stop in philadelphia until tonight. even until midnight. we have a blizzard warning in effect until tomorrow morning at 3:00 a.m. the snow has been falling at two to three inches an hour in some areas of philadelphia. now, the snowplows are having difficulties because they're going down the primary roads and as soon as they get to the end of one, they turn around. it's already covered in snow. so they turn around and they have to do it again. they haven't even gotten to any of the parking lots or secondary roads that they wanted to go to. so they're advising everyone to stay indoors, don't even think about coming out. we haven't seen anybody out and about so for now people are paying attention. definitely not getting a break in philadelphia. >> okay. well, duly noted. anecdotal evidence is the best evidence of what's going on.

relentless snow. thank you very much, jacob rasc rascon, thanks. let's go to kristen dahlgren at the new york airport. what's the situation there? >> reporter: hey, there, i'm feeling guilty being inside, looking at rehema and jacob out there. >> i know. >> reporter: i'm pretty lonely here. take a look. something you don't see very often. an empty laguardia airport. nobody trying to check in. nobody trying to change their flight. that's because they have been told you're not getting out today. now down to maybe just over a dozen people in the food court here. and they're -- they're the ones who didn't get the memo or e-mails or text that said their flight was cancelled. they're trying to figure out if they get a hotel or sleep here in the next day or two. it's a mess across the country. more than 4,000 flights cancelled today alone across the country. the worst hit airports here in the new york area. jfk, newark and laguardia,

seeing hundreds of cancellations here at laguardia. flight aware said 90% of flights are cancelled. i might dispute that because security isn't even open here and we are told no flights going in or out until at least tomorrow. so really a difficult day in the new york area. in the d.c. area, philadelphia, no flights in or out. but it doesn't stay in that area because we are seeing delays in los angeles, miami, you might think great weather, flights should be going out. but when you have delays here it affects there. a difficult day to be flying. >> i have family who is stuck in geneva, switzerland right now. can't get back to washington, d.c. for two days. that flight has been cancelled. so talk about a domino effect. thank you so much. kristen dahlgren, i appreciate that. up next, new york governor cuomo. nes, the machines that sort, stack and seal. these are the hands that keep private information private. these are the hands of pitney bowes, the craftsmen of commerce.

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i'm alex witt. joining you from new york city. you're looking at central park. blizzard conditions expected very soon, although some would argue they have begun. you're looking at freehold, new jersey. one of the crews was driving around in the storm. that's a static shot we're losing because of the winds. there's freehold, what you formerly saw there. that was point pleasant, new jersey. it is a pretty tough time out there right now. let's bring in new york governor andrew cuomo who joins me right now with the look at new york state. sir, thank you for joining me. tell me where are you? >> nice to be with you, alex. i'm in manhattan today. >> all right. good enough. i see there's a lot of activity. much more so than when i came to work three hours ago. it's up, the potential snowfall total. what areas do you expect will bear the brunt of this storm? >> well, so far the forecasters

have been right. they upped the forecast for the new york area to 16 to 24 inches. we're looking at the northern suburbs, westchester, new york city, and long island, which are the prime target. long island obviously is problematic more from a flooding point of view. long island is an island, but it's more like a peninsula. so a lot of -- a lot of exposure to the ocean and that's something we're watching. new york's challenge is the snow we can handle. flooding is the worst case scenario for new york. flooding brings evacuations. evacuations are difficult in an area as dense as new york and long island. we have all of the equipment, all the personnel called in. we called in the national guard.

so we have the equipment and the personnel ready. i just declared a state of emergency in new york and we're going to see how the weather progresses. right now we have everything open. the roads are eno. the subways and bridges are open. but we'll see how the weather deteriorates. we're supposed to have the eye of the storm at about 11:00 in new york. and we'll make determining as whether or not -- determinations whether or not we'll close down the roads. et cetera. >> you're aware of people park on the streets. you have said do not do that. the cars will be towed because you must make way for emergency vehicles. have you seen evidence of people heeding that warning? >> you know, god bless new yorkers. we are a tough, tough group and we believe that we can handle anything. so i say it repeatedly and i say it with a little new york force.

mother nature is one thing. mother nature, we understand the force of nature. citizens can often compound the problem. i have been driving all through the metropolitan area this morning and cars are getting stranded. cars are getting stuck. there are many accidents. and people don't appreciate the chaos that one stranded car causes. one car gets stuck, it backs up all the traffic. the plows can't get through. and now you have dozens and dozens of cars stranded in the snow and now the situation becomes critical very quickly. that has happened a number of times so really unless it's an emergency, there is no reason for people to be on the streets today. i don't care what you're driving. i don't care if you're mario andretti, it is dangerous and the roads are barely passable. >> governor, mass transit you said is operating right now. do you expect since you said the brunt of the storm, the full force is about what, two, three

hours away yet, do you think you'll be able to keep mass transit operating throughout? >> alex, i don't know. right now we're going to sit down with the operators in a few minutes and we'll make a determination by 10:00. i want people to know if mass transit is going to be having curtailed service or if roads are going to be closed so they can make other arrangements to get home. so i like to make the determinations early in the day and by 10:00 we'll start to make those decisions. but you're right. right now, everything is open. the roads are open. the mta is operating. i don't know if we can keep it operating all day long if this snow keeps coming down like this. i don't know that we can do it safely and obviously public safety is job one in a situation like that. >> i know you'll give it a new york try to keep it up and

running. stay safe, get some warmth coming your way soon. on the campaign trail today, donald trump rips jeb bush for a new video featuring his mother barbara bush. we'll show you what trump is saying. barbara bush. we're going to see with what donald trump is saying. with we have some video of some deer in new york city. the latest snow totals coming up. it took joel silverman years to become a master dog trainer. but only a few commands to master depositing checks at chase atms. technology designed for you. so you can easily master the way you bank. starts with arthritisg pain and a choice. this is sheldon, take tylenol or take aleve,.. the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors.

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what it looks like on the road. this is freehold, new jersey. areas of new jersey have already reported a foot of snow. we're getting one to two inches per hour, and we have some very heavy bands in central new jersey and southern new jersey. wildwood has already reported in with a foot of snow. you can see the heaviest snow is from i-95 northwards. new york city still very heavy snow, especially the northern half of the borough.

there's a little be kbap, lighter returns in the philadelphia area down here to dover and also towards salisbury. washington, d.c. still with some moderate to light snow. not a fun morning to be out there, the windchills are in the teens in most cases. >> we'll see if washington reaches those 20-inch snow totals. let's go to the latest clash between donald trump and jeb bush. th >> when push comes to shove, people are going to realize jeb has real solutions, rather than talking about how popular they are, or how great they are. he's doing it because he sees a huge need and it's not being filled by anybody. of all the people running, he seems to be the one who could solve the problems. i think he'll be a great president. >> nbc's kerry sanders is in

pella, iowa. kerry, good morning to you, what's going on with this? >> reporter: good morning, there is that theory that you can trace everything in life back to hall. so let me take you back to the high school cafeteria, and alex, this may be more popular among guys and girls, your mama is so fill in the blank, that appears to be what's imitated on the political arena. we see the meshl. and the commercial as you just showed shows barbara bush, donald trump tweets, just watch jeb's ad where he needed mommy mo help you. mommy can't help you with isis or putin. which was then followed by jeb bush, which said i would be careful donald. and it shows a picture of barbara bush, and there she is with football pass and even some

dark lines under her eyes. this is all clearly an indication that the bush family is now getting behind jeb in a very public way. in fact jeb bush says he expects this to become a family affair. >> i'm sure my brother's going to be campaigning by my side, all this stuff's going to happen. but i got to win this. a lot of people think it's a little odd for a third bush to be president of the united states. i got to go -- the expectations on me are higher because of a that. fine, you know who expectations are higher than the conventional wisdom? me. >> reporter: so you see where things are heading, we're eight days to the iowa caucuses. eig trump once again having one of two rallies again.

>> i don't think it's good taste to go after someone's mother, the former first lady of the united states, even. to the winter storm assaulting the east coast is going to be a lot worse for new york than first believed. by the time it ends, new york city could get up to two feet or more. some 20 million americans will receive more than a foot of snow. in just a moment, my colleague richard lui brings us the latest snow totals. be sure to join me again at noon eastern. h non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar. but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® works differently than pills. and comes in a pen. victoza® is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once a day, any time. victoza® is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. victoza® is an injectable prescription medicine

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♪ ♪ why fit in when you were born to stand out. the 2016 nissan altima has arrived. ♪ a good morning, i'm richard lui here in new york city. a winter storm emergency is now going into effect. a powerful nor'easter is barreling into the city, with the possibility of coastal flooding. expected snow totals dramatically revised overnight for new york city and surrounding