right now on "ana cabrera reports" -- the search for a motive. a twist as police hunted for answers in the killing of unitedhealthcare ceo and new details on how luigi mangione was allegedly able to evade capture for days. plus, mystery in the sky. lawmakers now demanding transparency as drones are spotted night after night over new jersey.

also ahead, the search for austin tice. the new clue emerging in syria overnight in the american journalist's disappearance. later arrange tick blast. the bone-chilling temps hitting millions from the great lakes to the northeast. ♪♪ we made it to friday. it's 10:00 eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. thanks for joining us. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. new york city police are revealing new details into how the suspect in the murder of a health care exec evaded capture for days. authorities now say after luigi mangione fled the crime scene on an ebike to central park and ended up at an uptown bus station he appears to have hopped on a subway and double back to throw police off. the search for a motive is more complicated this morning after unitedhealthcare confirmed that mangione was not a member.

nbc's valerie castro is in pennsylvania where mangione remains in custody. also with us former fbi supervisor rob it d'amico and retired nypd officer jillien snyder, adjunct lecture at the john jay college of criminal justice. valerie, let's start with new details about mangione allegedly doubling back to evade capture. what more are we learning about that timeline? >> reporter: hi, anna, good to be with you. even though mangione is in custody, police continue their investigation and they continue to review surveillance video from the day of the shooting. they now say that they believe mangione rode a bicycle into and out of central park and then took a cab up town to the george washington bridge area. that's where they say that he appears to have boarded a subway train and headed back downtown towards penn station and from there is where he made his way into pennsylvania. they say he stopped in philadelphia and made his way as far west as pittsburgh before then heading back east and

ending up in altoona where he was arrested earlier this week. >> and valerie, mangione remains in custody there in pennsylvania. as police follow this evidence in new york looking to further connect mangione to the crime where do the efforts stand to extradite him from where you are back to manhattan? >> reporter: well, we know his defense attorney plans to continue to fight extradition back to new york. yesterday he filed a writ of habeas corpus petition arguing he is being unlawfully detained here without bail. there are a couple of hearings set for later in this month where that extradition hearing will come up, but new york governor kathy hochul indicated she is working with authorities here in pennsylvania, the pennsylvania governor josh shapiro, in hopes of expediting that extradition process. at this point it could take several more days if not weeks. >> thank you so much for those updates. valerie castro. rob, let's talk about the new information in the search for a

motive. does it surprise you that mangione was not insured by unitedhealthcare? how much does that, perhaps, complicate why he did it, if he did it? >> it does a little bit, but then again, i think this -- they're going to find out that there was a bigger plot in here. if he did have them as a ealth care, he looked at him and other ceos. he may have targeted ceos. i think the notebook with the plans and the browser history of his computer will give that away. but i always question why did he still have the gun if he did this? why didn't he throw the gun in a river when he was in philadelphia or pittsburgh? he may have been looking to continue this action by looking at other ceos. it might have been this one was more vulnerable. he found out information he could take action on. he is did it an was going to lo to do something else. >> there was the reporting mangione suffered some kind of back injury and police are telling us this about that.

>> he posted x-rays of screws being inserted into his spine, so the injury that he suffered was a life-changing, life-altering injury and that's what may have put him on this path. >> there's a big leap from back pain to murder, so how might police be trying to connect the dots or fill that gap? >> so i think what they're trying to do is figure out was the -- his pain that he was suffering was that actually the rationale behind his crime or is he so upset with the health care industry, how he feels slighted by the health care industry and that's what actually drove him to commit the crimes. the unfortunate reality is so many americans are dealing with chronic health issues, chronic pain issues, and most of them don't go out and hurt people, let alone murder people. >> exactly. which is, again, something that is -- is a key piece of this. it sparked outrage because of what people have experienced. rob, investigators say mangione, he went silent for months before the killing. his family even filing a missing

person's report recently. how are police putting together what happened during that time and how important is it to figure that out? >> it could be tough, but i think he wrote enough online they're going to start doing like a timeline of when he started disappearing from his social circles that he was used to engaging with. when he started writing things, when did it come out that he liked the hero the unabomers. all those things are leading up to this point. i think they're going to backtrack it and then start talking to witnesses. saying hey what was he talking about this time, did he indicate anything else? i think it was a slow movement down this dark path that they're going to have to time out. again, motive doesn't have to be proved. juries like it they like to paint a picture why did this very intelligent person go from this to murdering someone, the jury will want to know that. >> jillian, we talked a lot about the family of mangione,

this prominent family in maryland, and his upbringing, his ivy league background. we're learning that police still haven't talked to family members. does that surprise you? >> it doesn't because of the position of the family. with this national media coverage i would assume the family being in the position they are would have counsel and the police would not be authorized to talk to them without the presence of their attorney. they're doing it for two reasons. right now he has charges penning in pennsylvania, he has the forgery, the possession of an illegal firearm, he has a slew of other things as well as a pending indictment here in new york city for murder. his family's probably being guided by his attorney not to speak with them. >> and rob, if they think they already have enough evidence to prove mangione did it when talking about police and investigators, you've touched on this, they may not need the motive, but how important is it answering someone with his background could have become a killer? >> you never have too much

evidence. the gun will be the major piece of evidence king him to the crime scene, but today's juries really want to hear and understand the one picture that we're seeing of him before this dark period and how he got to the point he murdered someone. they want to see the evidence tied to that and they want to be able to see this timeline of him sliding down. when you're sitting there about to put someone behind bars for the rest of their life, you kind of want to understand that. the premeditation i think is going to be easy with the planning and notebook and such and what he took to do it, but the motivation of him going down from what you're seeing like she talked about, the family raised in maryland, very affluent, to someone who's now fleeing on busses after murdering someone. the jury is going to want to see that. >> you know, we've seen how this crime has really revealed broader outrage toward the health care industry and now we're learning a woman was just arrested on tuesday, in fact, in florida for threatening an

insurance company by ending a phone call with the words "delay deny depose" those three words found written on bullet casings at the scene, jillien. there's a lot of angry rhetoric out there. at what point does law enforcement take action? when does a threat rise to that level? >> of course people have their first amendment rights and they can say certain things that they feel like they need to say, but once it reaches that level of violence, or once it reaches the level of threat, where an individual actually feels fearful for their safety that is immediately when law enforcement must get involved. >> rob, what's your biggest concern in this current threat environment? >> i think you talked about it. i think -- i mean health care companies knew they weren't popular, but the fact that there's so many people siding on the side of a person who murdered someone, i think is scary. i think it's frightened the em to the point where they're really starting to understand the backlash. i predict the threats coming in now will all tie back to this

new york city shooting because when you threaten someone you want them to be scared, to take fear of something, and now if you point to this, then it goes to okay, it's going to scare them and then gathering which ones are really capable of violence and which ones are just threats. >> rob and jillien, thank you both. i always appreciate your expertise. up next, it's not a bird, it's not a plane. what are mystery drones doing in the skies above new jersey? i'll talk to a congressman calling for public fbi briefings. are republican senators warming to some of president-elect trump's most controversial cabinet picks? later, dangerous conditions as heavy snow and frigid temperatures hit the midwest. more on the arctic blast impacting millions. we're back in 90 seconds. ustomid my car insurance so i saved hundreds. with the money i saved i thought i'd get a wax figure of myself. cool right? look at this craftmanship.

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ask your doctor if fasenra is right for you. no one seems to know exactly what they are or where they're coming from. for weeks new jersey residents have been raising the alarm about mysterious drones in the sky and lawmakers are demanding answers too. night after night residents have reported drones in some cases swarms of them hovering over homes, government buildings, military sites. residents say they're as large as small cars with a hum loud enough to wake you up if you're sleeping. now the white house says there's no evidence of security threats or foreign influence. that's not satisfying residents and local officials who want an

explanation about what is going on. nbc's sam brock has been following it all and joining us now. how is law enforcement responding to this growing demand for answers? >> of course, right. what we know right now is we have two divergent schools of thought. the residents and mayors saying they're clearly drones and the other the federal agencies, we reviewed the footage, not that we created the imagery, it looks like manned aircraft. you have four senators coming out saying listen whatever is going on behind the scenes, whatever you know, reveal it now to put everybody at ease. the reported drone sightsings that have consumed new jersey now expanding to bowie, maryland, outside of washington where a group of four senators from new york are demanding a briefing as soon as possible on

how the agencies are working to identify and address the source of these incursions. >> we don't know who is sending them, who's controlling them, whether they are spying. >> i've been a little frustrate. >> there hasn't been enough transparency letting people know what's happening. it's allowing a lot of potentially misinformation to spread or fear. >> reporter: at rose's luncheonette the drones are the talk of the town. there's a lot of panic. >> the restaurant's owner was woken up by one. >> you looked out the window and saw lights, you know, in the sky like a green light, red line. >> a pair of drones right here in front of me. >> reporter: about a week ago mayor morris in a nearby township investigated reports of eight drones flying by his government building. >> you saw them over there. >> over the tree line. >> local mayors are demanding answers too. >> this smacks of a lack of control and that makes people very uncomfortable. >> reporter: thursday the white house downplaying concerns saying the sightings are not military drones and do not come

from a foreign threat. they aren't sure if they're drones at all. >> it appears that many of the reported sightings are manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. >> reporter: rob d'amico former head of the fbi's counter drone unit who says it can be easy to confuse drones with planes or other aircraft. you suspect a large percentage of these sightings are manned aircraft? >> i believe probably 90% of them are and the other 10% are drones allowed to be flying. >> reporter: whatever is swooping around in the skies, locals believe they're not getting the full story. >> do you get the impression the federal government knows way more than what they're -- >> absolutely. without a doubt. >> what is going on? the fbi and dhs did come out with a joint statement yesterday saying they're working with new jersey state police and deploying new personnel and technology to investigate whether or not these drones are drones, manned aircraft or just oversights here. ana, governor murphy saying this week there was 50 sightings in a

single day. he said there might be overlap. some of it might not be accurate. the reality is that folks may be seeing these drones up in new jersey and flying more drones which is not to say these are all planes, the majority is planes, the federal government does think that, but this week there was a meeting with hundreds of mayors, who wasn't there, the fbi to discuss this and put fears at ease. this is the situation we find ourselves in today. >> so much uncertainty. we don't know for certain what's going on and that's the reason now people are asking those questions. thank you so much. stay on top of it for us. josh gottheimer joining us, a democrat who sefx on rves on house intelligence committee. you've been asking questions and you were briefed by the fbi and department of homeland security, your committee, so they have no idea what's going on? >> well, listen, based on what i've seen -- thanks for having me -- there's no reason in my mind based on what they analyzed

there's any credible threats to public safety at this time. that i feel good about based on what the fbi has briefed me on. that said, the hundreds of sightings, the images, andy kim, senator now in new jersey, said he has seen them himself, he posted something about that, right, so clearly there's something going on out there and what's driving me crazy and i think a lot of my colleagues in the state government and, of course, federally is that the fbi and department of homeland security who are responsible for monitoring and being aware of what's in the skies is not giving us a public briefing, giving us enough information, telling us exactly where these drones are coming from, who's sending them up. are they all unlicensed and unregistered? what are they? i think people deserve to know, which is why, of course, when you don't have any information people get anxious about it and say what's going on out here? give me some information. i've called on the fbi to

immediately with dhs brief the country, brief new jersey, what's going on. make public what they know. of course, insure that state and local law enforcement have the tools they need from a monitoring perspective and if necessary if the drones are going over military bases like they have been reported in new jersey or over critical infrastructure like reservoirs or national security sites or other law enforcement sites that law enforcement has the tools to take out and take down these drones. >> are you surprised that the law enforcement agencies like the fbi, like dhs, like the pentagon, that have all come out and tried to say nothing to worry -- i'm paraphrasing that -- their direct words there's no national security or public safety threat no evidence of that threat and that there's no evidence of a nexus to some kind of like foreign influence in this? i mean are you surprised, though, they can't say this is what's happening? this is what -- that they -- do

they not have the answers? >> well, that's why they should be out briefing. i mean, listen, i think it's one thing to analyze. we have systems to be able to analyze what -- if there's imminent threats from drones, where they're coming from, oversaeshgs any threats of that nature, that's one thing and the department of defense and homeland and others have briefed on that and said we're not concerned that that's what it is, but they're not going, to your point, taking the next step saying what are these drones? what's going on? where are they coming from? what should we be worried about long term? that's what i've called them on to do, come clean, come forward, tell the public. i've introduced legislation to this effect we want to make sure that you don't have drones flying over any place they shouldn't be. this can't be the wild west when it comes to drones. right. whether that's in new jersey or anywhere. people shouldn't have to worry. we shouldn't do anything to threaten public safety or infrastructure or airports, right, any where you might be

concerned there should not be any drone activity. there should be no drones over military bases. there's been 11 sightings over a base that we have here in new jersey, right. if that's true, and the army raised this issue, then, of course, that shouldn't be allowed and there should be laws in place if you fly a drone unlicensed and uj ren sterred you should go to jail for it. you can't do that and threaten our public safety and national security or, of course, have people rightly anxious about what's going on in the air. >> people thinking what are these? who is behind them? what's the intention? we did hear in sam's reporting from the former head of the fbi's counter drone unit who suspects a large percentage of these sightings are actually manned aircraft. do you have reason to believe they're not? >> well, listen, i think there's a lot of reporting coming in, right. i don't have access to all the reports going on as was mentioned the other day. there was more than 50 in one day. a lot coming in, some to the

fbi, state police and local law enforcement. so i'm sure some of these are manned aircraft, right. the question is are some of them not? and based on some of my colleagues and the state police has told others, that they've seen these drones. we know they're out there. we just want to make sure -- it would be good to know where they're coming from if they're unlicensed and unregistered. we have a responsibility to give law enforcement the tools if the fbi is not going to do, somebody should be making sure we know what's up in the air and not over places that put anyone in danger or a threat and where they're coming from. that's not a lot to ask. we certainly have the equipment and technology to do it. so now let's do it and let's tell the public what we're doing. not random statements. let the fbi, department of homeland security do a proper public briefing on this and they should do that today. >> what's your message to your constituents who might be on edge right now if they look up tonight and see a drone? what should they do? >> listen, based on the information i've received, and i

feel good about that, the briefings i've received from the fbi and homeland and governor and others, i strongly believe that no one's public safety is at risk. right. at this time there's no threats to public safety. but i'll reiterate again, i understand why you want answers and i think the federal government, the fbi and homeland security, owe those answers. that's my message. don't worry, right, but let's make sure that we get the answers of what this is and, of course, long term that law enforcement and others have the tools they these, the resources they need, to monitor and if necessary if drones are flying in places they shouldn't be, to take them out of the air. >> congressman josh gottheimer thank you very much for taking the time. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. up next, a quote blunt force pressure strategy. we have new reporting on how trump allies are fighting to get republican senators on board with some of his most controversial cabinet picks. after 12 years missing in

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fortunes could be changing in the senate at least for president-elect trump's defense secretary nominee pete hegseth. a stunning reversal from earlier this month when trump was considering abandoning pete hegseth when he faced a battle

over lack of experience and past comments about the military, numerous accusations including sexual assault, drinking on the job, financial mismanagement. pete hegseth denies the allegations of wrongdoing. over the past week team trump has turned up the heat on skeptical senate republicans and that pressure campaign may be working. >> the approach is going to be everybody toe the line. everybody line up. we got you here. and if you want to survive, you better be good. don't get on santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. we are seeing that play out in realtime right now with the nominees. my friend joni ernst, who is probably one of our more conservative principled republican leaders in the senate right now, is being hung out to dry for not being good enough and you're going to get primaried. >> correspondent vaughn hillyard here following the trump

transition and former white house aide under george w. bush elise jordan and cornell belcher, political analysts. key senators on the previous like joni ernst are now seeming to i guess at least give hegseth the benefit of the doubt. what's changed. >> benefit of the doubt is most politically beneficial if you will. these are senators who are looking to represent their constituents, have a seat at the table, republicans have a majority in congress and they would like to use their political power to some degree for their own benefits over the next years, even if they were to ultimately fet primaried in 2026 or 28. keeping the door open and having those conversations an allowing those confirmation hearings to proceed january or february, it is beneficial to them. i want to let you listen to jason miller, senior adviser to donald trump, who talked this morning about the posture towards these republican senators. take a listen.

>> i think a lot of that is hyperbole. right now there are no hard nos from republicans for any of president trump's nominees. because they're really good people. they are very good, well-qualified people. >> and donald trump and the transition understand that matt gaetz was effectively killed because behind the scenes, there were several hard nos among republican lawmakers. those republican senators, they actually do have their own, and they could kill kash patel, they could go and kill tully -- tulsi gabbard or pete hegseth's nomination. for donald trump his power is going to be in the hands of these republican senators and that's why it's beneficial for them as well to give these senators the idea that they can use their advise and consent authority appropriately. >> listen to this, elise, an ap poll shows only about two in ten americans approve of hegseth as a pick for defense secretary. what's your reaction to that,

especially asser with we are s appears he has the full backing of trump? >> the poll showed they don't know who he is, part of his problem too. he's not a well-known defense leader. i think something like a negative poll could possibly move donald trump a little bit. he does respond to public opinion. you look at what happened to matt gaetz ostensibly you look at how many people came out in the press and that really tanked him. so sometimes it can work. pete hegseth has been picking up steam lately. he's been having a much better week. if he doesn't have any bad breaking news, you know, it's looking much better for him and i would not have said that last week. >> "the new york times" did a deep dive into his change of fortunes an they report whether mr. hegseth is ultimately confirmed or not. the past week has already seen as a resounding success by people close to mr. trump. it is their first test run of a

blunt force pressure strategy that will be replicated again and again whenever a republican gets in the way of mr. trump. cornell, what kind of a test is this and what will the outcome tell you? >> well, it is a fascinating test. let's step back for a moment, right. if you have conservatives like joni ernst who are being threatened because of -- they have questions about -- about this nominee, this isn't about policy, right. you know, you could put forward conservative nominees who -- who conservative senators would approve, but this isn't what this is about. this is about like a lot of reporting is showing, who is going to be most loyal to donald trump, and i think for a lot of americans, look, we're going -- he won the election, but you're also defined by the politics of -- of this nomination battle.

i tell you, if you go into a nomination battle with all these nominees who have, you know, let's just say a lot of baggage and problems and scandal, behind them, and it's rolled out in these senate hearings, you know, the initial perception of the trump administration will be defined by these -- by these scandals and this negative news. i mean, just step back not even being partisan, but, you know, i don't think you've seen in the past where it would be a republican president or a democrat president try to force scandal ridden nominees through this process because they understand that politically that hurts them, and it certainly is going to hurt the congressional members who have to ultimately vote for or against someone who has a lot of scandal around them. >> to that point, vaughn, trump is somebody who doesn't like bad headlines. >> no. he has said consistently over the course of the last two years that when he were to enter office in january '25 he will

want to hit the ground running and be surrounded by a cabinet that would be confirmed and political appointees who would be in the position to effectuate the change in these departments and agencies he said felt like he was delayed in getting the opportunity to do well into his administration and then covid hit, and he blames a lot of their inability to push through some major structural changes in the federal government on the delay to get people properly installed and then covid hitting and taking away the focus of the trump administration. so for him here, these bad headlines also have institutional dilemmas for him because it keeps him from rooting out the deep state in the fbi if kash patel is not quickly confirmed or if tulsi gabbard is not easily confirmable as director of national intelligence, that blocks his ability to get that sort of intelligence that he believes deems worthy to make major domestic and foreign decisions based off of. i think for donald trump here, there's also an understanding

that he wants these people in place so he can go and use those departments and agencies and have somebody on top of them who can afeccate the change he desiress. >> i'm fascinated by jd vance's role in this. in that "times" piece they're reporting jd vance had a key role in trying to turn the tides among people on the hill. he is still a senator, right, senator vance. do you think he has weight with his colleagues in the senate? >> certainly he does, and he has shown just this week if he has played a role in trying to rehabilitate pete hegseth he's been effective. having those relationships from his days in the senate certainly is going to be an asset because he knows these republican senators. he's worked with them. he knows democratic senators he has worked with across the aisle too. that certainly is something that's always a help to the president if your vice president can go in and deal with congress. >> cornell, nbc news has been tracking how some of trump's

picks have softened their rhetoric or rewritten it as they navigate the process in the senate. pete hegseth previously said women should not be in combat roles. he requested whether openly gay people should be allowed to serve. now he's directly contradicting that or suggesting he never said those things. tulsi gabbard, trump's dni pick distancing herself from her support of the assad regime in syria. what are americans supposed to believe? >> that's a good question, and that's why i think, you know, from senators on both sides, i think there will be pointed questions. you can't run from your record. we're talking about it. i assure you the staff of the senators who will be questioning these nominees will have this information and they -- and you've seen how these nomination battles often go. it is hard to run from your record when you're sitting there in front of senators, many who are lawyers, and trying to pin

you down on it. i think it will be difficult for them to dodge this. they will have to come up with an explanation for americans of why, for example, don't you want women to serve? then what that turns into, that turns into a campaign for the midterms. >> there's the fbi background check under way for a lot of these nominees. we have reporting that pete hegseth just finished his paperwork for that. we may get more revelations that come out between now and the confirmation hearings. thank you very much. vaughn hillyard, elise jordan, cornell, happy friday. up next on "ana cabrera reports" whiteout conditions in the great lakes with temperatures plunging to near zero degrees in some places. how long will this cold snap last? plus, a new lead in the desperate search to find kidnapped american journalist austin tice in syria. we're live from damascus next. oy moments better. especially when they're eggland's best. taste so fresh and amazing. deliciously superior nutrition, too.

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a short time ago secretary of state antony blinken was in baghdad on an unannounced visit to iraq in part of a shuttle diplomacy through syria's neighboring countries to promote stability after bashar al assad's downfall. the major unknown in the equation is the rebel coalition that toppled assad and the interim government they're forming. the shaky trust between the u.s. and that transitional government could hold the key to finding the whereabouts of missing american journalist austin tice.

nbc's richard engel filed this report from damascus, syria. >> reporter: american journalist austin tice has been missing in syria since 2012. his family has renewed hope he'll be found now that bashar al assad's dictatorship has been overthrown. a senior rebel leader says they're aware the assad regime arrested tice. we have tried as much as possible to find information about austin and return him to his mother. but we have not reached a result, he said. then a lead. we spoke to saher al ahmed in dubai. he was an activist and citizen journalist arrested for filming anti-regime demonstrations. this is the first time he's showing his face on camera. he told us he was in a prison cell across from tice and last saw him alive in july 2022. on one occasion, he says, they punished me for four hours because i violated the instructions and looked at a

detainee. we went to the location this morning. assad's former general intelligence prison. ahmad said he memorized the location here and he said you had to descend 27 steps to get to the right area. 26, 27. it all checks out. he said the steps would lead to a row of cells about 100 yards long. >> this is the tiny solitary confinement cell where ahmed was kept with a tiny slot in the bottom and just opposite this is the cell where tice was kept. ahmed said most of the prisoners in this wing were foreigners. >> the calendar counting down days. this hand. it would have been absolutely miserable to stay here. look, there's still cockroaches crawling out of holes in the

walls. we showed pictures of the cells to ahmed, and he confirmed we're in the right place. he said tice was thin and like other prisoners had his hair and eyebrows shaved off but appeared healthy, able to walk, eat and communicate. we don't know what happened to him after that. >> and richard is joining us now live from damascus. richard, how big of a lead is this perhaps in the search for tice? >> well, it is a -- seems to be a confirmation that he was alive at least in the summer of 2022 and every time you have a lead, every time you have a point of reference, it is a little bit of a breadcrumb on the hansel and gretel trail. you can lead, take one bit of information and use it to get to the next and get to the next. and what is happening now all across this country is that all of the secrets are being

exposed, all of these dark sites, which were unapproachable before, are now suddenly open. the documents are available. when we were at this prison we could see that there were documents around. there were locked cupboards we didn't have access to where there might be more information. when we were at another prison the other day, the floor was littered with documents. so this is a time when if you want to find out information, the -- the curtain has been peeled back and it is all available. it's just trying to get that information and act in realtime. so it does seem to be a lead. it was based on this one detainee, but what was unusual is over the years, and i've heard many tips about austin tice and where he might be and who might be holding him, but this one was different. there was a lot more detail. the detainee knew exactly the layout of the prison. he described his cell very

accurately. he described how he had to behave in the cell. he described seeing austin tice twice moving up and down the corridor, that he was allowed to walk the corridor. he he said that there was a turkish -- another prisoner, who had been given responsibilities to feed the prisoners and this turkish detainee would -- was their only way of communicating. perhaps that turkish prisoner turned accomplice in the prison or someone who was forced into lash in the prison perhaps he could have information. plane unanswered questions. i don't have the answers to nearly all of them but this is a time of opportunity for those who are looking for missing people of no doubt. >> and you are answering so many questions. you've uncovered so much that has been inaccessible and untouchable, frankly, in the past decade plus. thank you for your ongoing reporting there. such tenacious reporting. we appreciate you bringing us

answers, richard. >> thank you. >> back here at home now, a new arctic blast sending temperatures plummeting. the bitter cold gripping the midwest and the northeast. plus, are you snowed under with holiday shopping? we've got the shipping deadlines you need to know. why use 10 buckets of water when you can use 1 fire extinguisher. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn. asthma. does it have you missing out on what you love, with who you love? get back to better breathing with fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems. serious allergic reactions may occur. get help for swelling of your face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens or you have a parasitic infection. headache and sore throat may occur.

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with temperatures freezing below freezing in many places, and even more lake-effect snow, that's making traffic conditions treacherous. nbc's emilie ikeda is tracking all of it for us from montclair, new jersey. thanks for braves the temperatures. how are you holding up? how long will this last? >> reporter: well, ana, the good news we'll see temperatures improve later this weekend into next week. until then bitter cold. here the temperatures are in the 20s, but it feels even worse with the windchill causing that number to dip into the teens. it's some serious weather whip lash compared to this week. temperatures plunging by more than 30 degrees since wednesday. this morning bone-chilling temperatures and snow blanketing much of the country bringing whiteout conditions to communities along the great lakes and making travel treacherous overnight. in michigan, this heart-stopping moment caught on camera, shows a

truck slamming into a fire engine on a snowy highway causing only minor injuries to the driver. the firefighters seen scrambling to safety. in western new york, more travel chaos. the sheriff's office in erie county responding to more than 50 vehicles skidding off the road just yesterday, planes paralyzed on the tarmac in rochester and snow piling up in buffalo. with many americans facing the bitter cold. in international fall, minnesota, air temperatures as cold as negative 15. the freezing cold even creating rare sea smoke in lake superior. this blast of rctic weather coming after a wild week of high winds and rain in the northeast. on the west coast firefighters still beating back destructive wind-driven wildfires threatening dozens of homes including celebrities like screen legend dick van dyke. >> you can see it and oh, my god, and we got out of here. >> reporter: who was evacuated

with his wife arlene and all of their pets except his cat who went missing. van dyke, who turns 99 today, posting that bobo was found safe and sound. good update there. with the official start of winter still a week away, experts are recommending and reminding people to set their thermostat to at least 55 degrees. let your faucet drip overnight if you're concerned about pipes freezing. as always heading outside, bundle um, layer up with loose fitting clothing. >> good advice. emilie ikeda, go get warm. thank you. up next here on "ana cabrera reports," just 12 days until christmas. have you done all your holiday shopping? the shipping deadlines you need to know. i used to leak urine when i coughed, laughed or exercised. i couldn't even enjoy playing with my kids. i leaked too. i just assumed it was normal. then we learned about bulkamid. an fda approved non-drug solution for our condition.

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welcome back. if you're making that list, be sure to check your shipping dates twice, because with just

12 days left until christmas, and hanukkah, time is running out to make sure your gifts arrive on time. nbc's brian chung is here with every date you need to know. run us through the deadlines. >> some of those deadlines are already here. today is the deadline for standard shipping for fedex, and usps and u.p.s. say you have a little more time. u.p.s. wednesday, december 18th. u.p.s., it depends on where you're shipping it, from new york to the other side of the country, you have to get it in the mail by tuesday. there are some expedited shipping deadlines. if you want to pay a little extra, you can get three days select as late as december 19th as usps by december 21st. but it's more expensive and can get costly if you get costly closer to christmas. >> some of us are still shopping, not ready to ship yet. you just ratted yourself out.

>> i'm one of those people. >> any money saving tips? >> take a look at who's offering free shipping. tomorrow is free shipping day, so jay crew, they did this last year. also try to pay attention to those shipping deadlines. again, if you do have a free trial at walmart plus, you may be able to get access to that free and fast shipping. so take a look at all your options out there. again, shopping early and shipping early is a big way to get them before christmas. >> i hope you get everything on your wish list, brian. naughty or nice, that's the big question. >> nice, nice, nice. that does it for us today. have a wonderful weekend. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart is next. good morning, 11:00 a.m. eastern, we're going to get to our top story in 30 send