next here on "msnbc saturday," the big freeze from the heartland to the sunshine state. more than half this nation caught in an icy grip. we're out in the cold to bring

you the latest. also ahead, love in the airport alert. authorities finally catching up with the man who triggered that newark liberty airport security crisis. what does love have to do with it? plus, it's the call of the wire. a new study on how your cell phone might save you from a devastating disease. and the battle of the bulge. the pricey new years approach to watching your weight. good morning, everyone, i'm alex witt. we have all that to show you, plus a jobs outlook. 11:00 a.m. eastern on "msnbc saturday." first, though, new information on just how cold it is across the country and where it's the coldest. record-low temperatures were set in five states overnight, including minus 31 degrees in aberdeen, south dakota. snow and ice a dangerous combination here for the drivers in atlanta. the drivers losing control on one of the many slick streets that are coated in black ice there. there's been over two dozen car crashes reported just this place alone. look at that. let's get the latest now from

nbc's ron mott. yep, it's still cold there, though the sun's out. is that helping things any? >> reporter: it is helping tremendously, alex. good morning. we're probably within an hour of hitting 20 degrees, but we were just talking with the crew here. it feels so much warmer. we've been out here since about 5:00 a.m. this morning. it was 12 degrees with a windchill of zero at that hour. it's warmed up a little bit here. just to put this in perspective, about 500 or 600 miles south in miami it was 60 degrees at 5:00 a.m. it's now down into the mid-40s with windchills in the 30s in miami. they are not used to that. we are not used to this here. as you mentioned, all this ice yesterday on the roads here, alex. it's still around town, especially in parts of the midtown and downtown areas which are shielded by buildings, and there's a lot of shade. the sun's not able to get to it, so that stuff isn't melting, and it was one accident after another. a 27-car pileup out by the airport yesterday. there was an even bigger pileup on the east side of town. fortunately, no one killed in those two wrecks, but there was a fatality reported here

thursday night when this weather system came through, dumping that snow and ice mixture onto the ground. as we mentioned, today only getting up into the mid-20s, so this ice is going to be around at least until tomorrow afternoon. so, folks have another day to deal with those icy conditions on the roadways, alex. >> yeah. hey, ron, have you been trying to put this snow out -- i mean, the salt out there on the ice, or is that just a waste of time, it doesn't work? >> reporter: well, really, they need to scrape it, because what happens when they put that mixture out there, it does its job and it melts, but because it's so cold, it just freezes again, and that temperature -- or the temperature they need to hit is above 22 degrees or so. we might get over there today for a little bit, but we're going to go back down into the teens tonight. so, whatever moisture is out on the roadways that had been melted by that salt mixture is only going to refreeze. so, we've got probably until monday before the roadways clear up here, alex. >> okay. ron mott, want to thank you very much for braving the elements all morning with us. we appreciate it. >> reporter: okay. >> for more on our wintry woes,

let's go to nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, good morning. >> good saturday morning to you, alex. incredible scenes in florida this morning, where sleet was reported in many areas of central florida, from tampa to orlando to daytona beach. it's warming up there now, but the cold remains in the middle of the country with negative temperatures really covering much of the dakotas, nebraska, iowa, all the way down now into areas of northern portions of illinois. so, as far as the windchill goes, still negative 3 in chicago, st. louis at minus 10. the bitter cold is all with us during the day today. high temperature only 8 in kansas city today. still a lot of snow and ice out there on the ground. very difficult to travel. we've been very cold ever since new year's eve. many locations are still waiting in the midwest to hit 32 degrees. the story tonight will be the cold in florida with freeze warnings all the way down into southern florida. we should have record lows from miami all the way down into key west. temperature tonight as low as mid-30s in florida. so, today you notice the temperatures are cold everywhere. here's your little sneak peek,

alex, a nicer day come monday. i know it's back to work and school, but at least the warm-up will begin. >> yeah, sure will appreciate that. bill karins, thanks. for more on the arctic blast, head to weather.com. there you're going to find more information on the low temperature records expected this weekend across southern florida. new developments this morning in that security breach at newark liberty airport. the chaos began last sunday when a man walked right through a security checkpoint and that led the tsa to shut down one of the airport's main terminals for several hours, stranding thousands of passengers and causing all sorts of major delays. police arrested a man in new jersey last night and then released him shortly after midnight. he's now charged with defiant trespassing. nbc's michelle franzen is joining us now with the very latest. and michelle, with another good morning, what are we learning about this man charged some. >> well, alex, we're learning port authority police say haisong jiang is the person who slipped past security rope at newark liberty international. the 28-year-old is a rutgers university doctoral student from china. he was arrested late last night

at his home in piscataway, new jersey, and charged with defiant trespassing, and then he was released. his roommates say jiang slipped beyond the checkpoint post to greet his girlfriend to say one final good-bye to his love before she caught her flight. the surveillance video shows the suspect lingering at the security checkpoint, first with a tsa agent present, then after the tsa agent leaves his post, the suspect ducks underneath the rope barricade and greets a woman and walks with her toward the gate. he now faces up to a $500 fine and is scheduled to appear in a newark court next week, alex. >> okay, michelle. we have new jersey senator frank lautenberg pushing for surveillance video to be publicly released. is he satisfied with the charge filed? >> he spoke out last night after the arrest. he said that he is not necessarily satisfied, although he's happy with the arrest, that it happened, and they were so quick about it. and he does not buy that love defense and says the suspect should face a harsher punishment for deliberately breaching security and creating costly

hours of delays for travelers while authorities tried to find the suspect. >> because the message can't go out to terrorists or people who would do damage to our citizens that you can take a chance and sneak in. this has to be seen as the equivalent of a terrible crime. >> the senator is also demanding a review of procedures for tsa agents, the airline employees who work together to monitor surveillance video and also those checkpoints. the tsa agent is currently on administrative leave and could face disciplinary action for leaving his post. alex. >> okay, michelle franzen, thank you very much for that. and two more security incidents to tell you about involving air travel. we're sharing it this morning for you. british police arrested three people aboard a passenger jet at london's heathrow airport for allegedly making verbal threats to staff. a police spokesman says all three were removed from the emirates plane yesterday before takeoff. british authorities searched

that jet and say they didn't find anything dangerous. and an unruly passenger aboard an air tran flight forced the pilot to make an unscheduled stop in colorado. the flight was on its way from atlanta to san francisco when it diverted to colorado springs because a passenger locked himself in the plane's bathroom. officials say the passenger was drunk. he was taken into custody after that plane landed. new this morning, the father of the alleged double agent who killed cia employees in afghanistan confirms it is definitely his son in a new video out today. a pakistani television station is airing a video of humam al balawi standing alongside the leader of the taliban in pakistan and telling jihadists to avenge the death of pakistan's previous taliban chief, who was killed in august by a cia missile strike. al balawi blew himself up inside a cia facility in afghanistan almost two weeks ago. seven cia employees were killed. "the washington post" was reporting some new details this morning about how that attack happened. and we have a national security reporter from "the washington

post," joining us now live from washington. good morning. >> good morning, again. >> okay, so, what are you learning today? >> well, some surprises and some new mysteries to chew on. one of the bigger things is this bomber had never been inside this base, had never actually seen any of these americans before he got onto the base to blow himself up. he essentially was brought on for the very first time by an afghan driver. once he got on to the base, he detonated the device. we also found out the cia had actually tried to put in some basic security precautions. they had brought the guy over to a place in the base that was essentially abandoned, and they tried to search him, and the minute they went to search him he blew himself up and the cia officers were close enough to him, some as many as a few yards to 50 yards away, and they were killed or wounded in this explosion. >> did you get any word as to whether he actually was a double agent? there are conflicting reports. >> a double agent or maybe a triple agent. >> right. >> one of the things we've

learned, it's really interesting, is that in order to prove his credentials for the cia, he brought some impressive stuff over, and that included, you know, some detailed information about the results of cia strikes in pakistan, who was killed, what kinds of facilities were hit, stuff that nobody knew except for the agency and for the terrorists themselves, and he also -- and this is the amazing part -- had real proof that he was in the presence of senior al qaeda leaders, and we're told this proof consisted of photographic-type evidence. so, he had been around al qaeda, the top levels, and the cia was clearly excited to talk to him. unfortunately, he was working for the other side. >> have you been able to confirm he is indeed the man in the video? i know the father says he is. i don't think nbc news has confirmed that at this point. have you? >> we're not getting any pushback about it. it sort of muddles the picture about who was responsible, who was behind in supporting him. this video claims that he's, you know, part of this taliban -- pakistani taliban group. al qaeda's claimed responsibility. most analysts think it was

probably several of these terrorist networks working together to get him onto the base and make him successful. >> okay. joby warrick, thanks as always. good to talk with you. >> you, too. still ahead, prosecuting the underwear bomber. is the government offering him a plea bargain? plus, on the economy, is there any hope for any new jobs soon? and danger at the wheel and the question what was this guy thinking or why wasn't he thinking, which may be the case? you're watching "msnbc saturday." [ female announcer ] we were flattered when regenerist beat the $100 cream.

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so, how's this for crazy? richard anthony flores jr. was arrested near arizona on two counts of reckless driving and one count of speeding. not only was he allegedly driving over 90 miles an hour, but as you can see in this video, he was steering driving, yeah, while standing through his

open sun roof. okay! well, president obama promoting new spending to create tens of thousands of clean technology jobs. the president unveiling this plan after the government released the latest jobs report yesterday. employers cut 85,000 jobs in december and the unemployment rate held steady at 10%. for more on this, let's bring in neil irwin, financial reporter for "the washington post." another good morning, neil. >> good morning, alex. >> what do these numbers tell us about the overall economy? >> well, it tells us we're in a really long, slow slog out of this weak jobs environment. you know, the signs have been pointing up the last few weeks, the economy has seems to have expanded at a pretty rapid pace in the fourth quarter, but apparently, businesses aren't confident enough to add to their payrolls. they're seeing better sales, are feeling better about things, but not enough to take the plunge and hire people, which is unfortunate. >> what happened? because analysts and reporters alike expected that this wouldn't be so bad. no, i know i called you out earlier, but you're like everybody else who's thinking this. the fact is, what happened here? ten times the number of jobs

lost? >> yeah. keep in mind what happened -- you know, we've been seeing the weekly number of people filing for unemployment benefits has been declining pretty steadily the last few weeks. so, yeah, a lot of us were expecting a fwer number. the consensus was no net job losses. a lot of forecasters were expecting job growth, as you say. what seems to have happened is that employers are just having a harder time than we thought pulling the trigger and becoming confident in the future. you know, businesses want to see not just rising sales, but want confidence that this recovery is for real before they add people to their payroll. they weren't quite there in december, apparently. >> do you see any silver lines in the latest job reports? temporary jobs, that's better than nothing, but is that the new norm? >> it may be for a while. as you say, the silver linings were a couple of things. we added good 47,000 temporary jobs in the month. that's better than nothing. it's, you know, better to have a temp job than no job at all. obviously, before we have a sustained recovery, you want to see employers bring people under their permanent staff.

another little civil silver lining is turns out that number in november was revised up, so we had job growth, the first month of job growth in two years since december '07, so, you know, there are signs that the job market is starting get better. it's just not there quite yet. >> where do you see things heading? if you say better, when? >> maybe by the spring with positive growth, maybe january or february. we might be starting to add jobs. but keep in mind, we need to not only add jobs, but we're in a hole we need to dig out of. it's really not enough. we need to be creating jobs by the hundreds of thousands to try and make up this lost ground that we have, and that might take longer time. another thing to remember is that the unemployment rate may stay high and keep rising through the year, because even as the economy starts turning around and jobs are added, people re-enter the workforce and say now that there's jobs out there, i'm going to look for a job and right now they're not looking at all. so, we could see the unemployment rate stay high for a while. >> thanks, neil irwin. here's a programming note. starting monday, we've got a new

lineup on msnbc. at 9:00 a.m. eastern after "morning joe," it's "the daily rundown" with chuck todd and savannah guthrie. they'll have an interview with rahm emanuel. also starting monday, "the dylan ratigan show," which begins at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. you can see it all just here on msnbc. a federal grand jury's investigating whether the so-called white house party crashers lied to a government official. two stylists that worked on michaele and tareq salahi have been subpoenaed in this case because the pair spent several hours with the salahis on november 24th, the day the would-be reality tv stars allegedly gate-crashed the white house state dinner for india. those stylists are set to testify tuesday. in a moment, the question so many of us are asking -- why has this winter been so bad so early? we're going to get the word on that from the pretty much accurate farmer's almanac. new mousse temptations by jell-o.

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you've heard it said that weather forecasters have one job

where you can be wrong and still be employed, but one forecaster really got it right this year, that being the farmer's almanac. that publication's been around almost 200 years, since 1818, and boasts an 80% accuracy rate when it comes to predicting the weather. joining me now is sandy duncan from "the farmer's almanac." good morning. >> good morning! >> i want to know before we get into the details, how do you do it? >> well, luckily, it's not my job, but the farmer's almanac based its long-range weather predictions on a mathematical and astronomical formula that dates back to 1818. we take sun spot activity, tidal action of the moon, position of the planet into consideration. >> and it certainly has worked for you throughout these years. can you tell us what is causing all of this cold? is there any specific meteorological activity doing it? >> well, you know, i think personally mother nature was reading "the farmer's almanac" back in august when we came out and said it would be a very frigid winter. in fact, we called it an ice cold sandwich winter, meaning it would be very cold and frigid in the middle part of the country

and not so cold, but don't get me wrong, still going to be cold, on the two coasts. so, i just think that big cold air is just sweeping down south more than it ever has before. >> do you see more snow coming, and what about projections for the rest of this year? >> well, unfortunately, it does look like there's some significant snowfall in the forecast for february in almost every zone of the country. unfortunately, in the middle section of the country, the southern and central plains will be hit pretty hard with some snow, but in the northeast and mid-atlantic states, we do see a very big snowstorm in the middle of february with possible blizzard conditions in new england. >> wow, okay, so, long and very kind of deep winter for so many. how about the rest of the year? does it look like to normalize itself or no? >> mother nature likes to go with the checks and balances at us, but farmer's almanac long-range predictions shows april wet but warming up, and then it's going to really warm up and july's really going to be a hot one. so, if you can hang on, july's the month to take vacation. >> if you like it really hot. >> true, true. >> the rest of us are like, not so much. so, you're saying april rains,

summer and then how about the fall and the winter? are we looking that far ahead yet or do you have to come up with the next forecast? >> actually, 2010 farmer's almanac contains weather through december it looks like a pretty warm summer on tap, fall looks pretty nice and we don't divulge too much of the winter until next august. >> good. we'll have you back then. sandy duncan, thank you so much. >> thank you. in a moment, the legal fallout from the botched terror attack and can he get a fair trial? at green giant, we pick vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're as nutritious as fresh. ho ho ho green giant it all starts with havinglocks more hotels to choose from.. that's why i book with expedia. so i can find someplace familiar... or somewhere more distinctive... nice! then i can compare dates to find out when i can save the

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happy new year! welcome to progressive.com! this place is hoppin'!

ah, it's resolution season! well, my resolution -- save money. last year, millions of people visited progressive.com, and those who switched saved an average of over $350. no wonder it's like a party in here. [ blows horn ] [ blowing rhythm on horn ] [ rhythm continues ] i wrote that. starting the new year with savings -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. time for your fast headlines. arctic air invades the deep south with teens in some parts. and in florida, subfreezing temps are threatening the citrus crops. defiant tress tpass is char for the man who breached security at the airport this week. he was arrested at his new jersey home and released hours later. he faces a $500 fine, if

convicted. drugs up in smoke. police burning almost five tons of confiscated cocaine. the crew is waging war against the drug trade. in 2008, police seized more than 38 tons of illegal drugs. and now to a horrible story out of australia. an indian man parking his car in melbourne was attacked by a group of men and set on fire. that man is now in the hospital with burns over more than 20% of his body. and creator of gumby is dead. animator art clokey dying yesterday in california. he was 88 years old. and those are your "fast five headlines." well, the 23-year-old nigerian man accused of trying to blow up that detroit-bound plane on christmas says he is not guilty. umar abdulmutallab pleaded not guilty to six charges in his first court appearance yesterday in detroit, and those charges include attempted murder and the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction to bring down a plane. and the hearing drew a peaceful demonstration from the local muslim community, protesting against the violence of radicals. joining me now to talk about all

this, lisa green, nbc news legal analyst and nbc news producer. my friend, good morning to you. glad to have you here. >> good morning, alex. >> okay, let's talk about the president's counterterrorism adviser, john brennan, who said the government may offer abdulmutallab a plea deal? >> well, it's certainly likely that the government will want this case to be over with, and honestly, if they have to go and try the case, they've got an extremely strong case. not only do they have a plane full of witnesses -- >> right. >> -- but alex, our colleague pete williams tells me the justice department says that this guy talked for 30 hours, waived his miranda rights, and then gave a bunch of evidence. so, they've got a lot of strong evidence. but you know, a plea deal -- the trick here is, would this suspect expect to accept a plea deal? he may want to go to trial for the publicity. so, it's a tricky situation. >> ah, the martyr thing. >> yeah. >> okay, but if he gets a plea deal, what does the u.s. government get out of it? gets all the information and gets the direct sort of path back to the genesis of all this, the leaders?

>> yeah. i mean, usually, there has to be a bargain for exchange, and here the exchange would be some sort of less severe sentence in exchange for information. but remember, alex, the goal here is to put this suspect away for the rest of his life. so, there's not going to be a lot of leeway on the side of the government in terms of offering a lighter sentence. >> okay. now, this is the son of a prominent nigerian banker, and i understand that the family brought in a couple of lawyers to observe, but what about official representation? he's got to have it. >> oh, he does. he currently has a prominent public defender out of detroit representing him, and she's the lawyer who appeared with him yesterday. we just don't know yet whether he'll swap lawyers for someone else. but alex, no matter who defends him, that defense lawyer has a very, very tough road ahead. >> i was going to say, does he even have a prayer of a strong defense in court? given everything you told us, with 200-some-odd -- what was it, 89 witnesses on the plane? maybe that's not the exact number, but that, the evidence, him talking. >> hundreds of witnesses, his own discussions with lawyers,

physical evidence on him that shows a plot. these are the grounds for a very tough defense, if any defense, which is why people are talking about the possibility that this never goes to trial, but instead, some sort of bargain is worked out. >> some are arguing this should be put into some sort of a military tribunal. what are your thoughts on that, pros and cons? >> it's a political discussion, and some people argue that what the government is doing here is trading the opportunity to get more information from the suspect in exchange for some sort of public relations bonanza, saying listen, we can try this in civilian court. but alex, prosecutors tell me that the government's civilian court system has had repeated success in prosecuting terror cases. some people want to go to a military tribunal. those are really not the place with the track record to convict terrorists and put them away for long sentences. >> and in terms of extracting information, if he's already been talking for 30 hours, i mean, they have presumably information to go on, whether or not it's proven in a court of law. >> yeah, again, justice

officials say we could go to a military tribunal to get more evidence, but we don't need to in this case. this particular suspect has been talking nonstop. he eventually stopped, but again, after what we're told is 30 hours of information-gathering. chances are, that's a lot of information. alex, one more thing -- as time passes, his access to information diminishes. so -- >> sure. >> in a funny way, the best information you get is the information you get up front. they've already got that information out of him. >> okay. lisa green, as always, a pleasure. thanks so much. >> thank you, alex. >> msnbc is the place for politics, and senate democrats are reeling from too high-profile retirements announced this week, those being senator chris dodd of connecticut and senator byron dorgan of north dakota, both of whom say they will not run for re-election this year. will these retirements help democrats hold their majority or will they turn the midterm elections into a referendum on the policies of the president? i'm joined now live from washington by my boys. we have msnbc political analyst pat buchanan and democratic strategist peter fenn. hello, again, guys. >> hey, alex. >> good morning, alex.

>> how do these retirements change the political landscape? i'll begin with you, pat. >> i think the dodd retirement from the race, if you will, enhances the democrats' chances of carrying connecticut. he was in very tough shape. he had come back a bit, but then he started slipping again. and i think they could have lost that seat up in connecticut. i think democrats are favored now. the dorgan thing is a real problem. i mean, dorgan is sort of a moderate democrat who is throwing in the towel, and that looks like a republican pickup there. and the second thing it does is it sends a message to the democratic senate caucus and to the democratic house caucus that, look, this could be a real bad year, fellas. if you're going to get out and you're going to have another career, now is the time to go before you get defeated and thrown out. >> hey, peter, do you agree with the potential republican pickup there with dorgan's retirement, and can anything be gleamed here regarding the retirements about the democratic party and the president? >> i'm not sure about the

president, alex. i think you've got a lot of folks who have been in there a while and are making decisions about whether they want to continue. in dorgan's case, i think he heard the hoof prints of the governor, hoven, who's very popular there in north dakota, who in polls was way ahead of him. look, you've got a situation there where unemployment actually is rather low, where folks feel pretty good about his tenure as governor. so, i think he is considered running against ken conrad and didn't, and i think that was tough. so, i think that's more, you know, that's a bit of a political calculation there, too. and i think, you know, look, the problem partly here is with dodd and with dorgan, you've got two solid senators, two guys who have contributed a great deal to this country. and it's kind of hard for democrats when folks are leaving of that caliber. but politically, in terms of

just these two races, pat's absolutely right. i mean, richard blumenthal, who's the attorney general, is a consumer -- >> advocate rights. >> oh, he's going to win, i think, in connecticut. so, it's -- >> i want to get back to dorgan with you, peter, because a little bit of inside baseball or playing the political chess board, if you want to. >> right. >> do you think dorgan got wind of bill owens in colorado, the governor who would not be running for re-election, despite his 2006 landslide victory, didn't think he could take it, and then there were theories that maybe former colorado senator ken salazar, now interior secretary, would say, look, i'm going to go for that post, and then he would have a position -- you know how it goes. >> in the administration. >> in the administration, but salazar says, no, i'm staying. >> well, that's a lot of dominos to fall, alex. >> right, right. >> and ritter's decision coming on the heels of these other two, you know, i think again a little bit of a blow. but i think he's looking to go out into the private sector probably to enjoy his life a little bit would be my guess

with dorgan. >> okay. >> and salazar, of course, has said he's not going to run for governorship. >> yeah. go ahead, pat. i think you wanted to jump in there. >> yeah. look, there have been some democrats, almost a dozen or something, who are stepping down in the house and they've got some problems in the senate. but i really think republicans ought not to get in too cocky about this. the probability, i think, alex, now is they could carry as many as 25, 26 seats, which is the same number as ronald reagan lost in the bad times in '82. but i think this idea that somehow we're going to capture the 39 in the house or 40 in the house you need or the 10 in the senate i think is almost an impossibility. i do think this -- the democrats' 60 votes, the veto-proof majority, i think that is a goner for good. >> so, does that mean that capitol hill comes grinding to a halt, pat? >> hopefully, mm-hmm. >> oh, come on. >> no. look, alex, you know what's

going to happen, i think? i think this 60-vote nonsense is going to be called into question. people are going to say, hey, look, you know, you can't filibuster the renaming of a post office. let's cut this out. and the democrats are going to call the republicans' bluff. i think the republicans would do the same thing if they were in charge and say, come on, guys, you know, you want to do this, we'll turn the tables on you. and then, hopefully, we'll get back to a more normal situation here in the hill. >> i want each of you to give me an assessment in all candor about the opposite party, and keep in mind, i'll go with you first, peter, with regard to the republican party and its vulnerabiliti vulnerabilities, this on the heels of michael steele this week saying, you know what, we're not going to do it in terms of the house and taking it. and of course, much to the dismay of many republicans out there. what do you think? >> well, look, i think, you know, sort of globally, you know, the republicans are in a very good position, but you have to look at what steele has done

with the republican national committee. i mean, they have no money. they've spent all their money. people would love to get rid of him but can't. the -- >> you've got rumors swirling around michael steele donating directly to campaigns. >> some of that is going to happen. the supreme court decision coming down is going to be very important, alex, because this means that businesses and unions can use regular funds, if they allow it, and it will be by the door in terms of financing and campaigns. so, that might throw this whole money thing into a whole other orbit. >> okay, pat, give me the democratic assessment. >> i think the democrats are in very serious trouble this year in the short term. health care i don't think is that big a deal for them, terrorism is a real loser for them, the economy with 10%-plus unemployment continuing and enduring is a problem for the president and for the democrats. i think the president is -- look, if this economy doesn't turn around, it's a problem in 2012. but dpem graphicaldemographicale

long term, the republican party is looking at a very grim situation, because those groups, minorities, hispanics, african-americans, asian americans, who vote either two-thirds to 90% democratic, they are growing in number in the population, and by and large, the european american or white population, which always, which provides 95% of republican votes, is shrinking as a share of the national population. so, in the long term, the republicans are looking at a very grim situation. short term, it looks rosy. >> okay. all right, you guys, i hope we have a date next saturday morning. don't be traveling. it's too cold. just stay home, okay? >> sorry, i'm on the road. >> are you really? >> how about the south? >> i really am. >> can you tell us where you're going? anywhere nice and warm? >> yeah, montana and idaho. how's that grab you? nice and warm up there. >> yeah, okay. well, i'm going to miss you. >> going to help some of his friends up there. they're in real trouble. >> i see, all righty. oh, come on. bye, you guys. see you soon. >> okay. alex, take it easy.

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the cold snap that has some 60% of this country in its grip being felt as far south as miami, and now there are concerns for one of florida's biggest cash crops. parts of florida could see historical low temperatures by sunday morning, and julie martin is in winter garden, florida, with the weather channel for us. julie, good morning. what's it like there? >> reporter: well, good morning to you, alex. right now we're at about the 32-degree mark, the freezing mark, and it's kind of the crucial time for farmers. it's going to get more crucial as the hours wane on here into sunday and into monday, as temperatures are going to be in the 20s. all it takes is about four hours for damage on these trees. i want to show you one of the ways they protect the trees here. they use these water systems to spray it at the root, and that sort of seals in the warmth in the tree trunk there, helps save the tree from freezing due to

mother nature. that's one of the ways they do it here. that's what they've been doing all week long in central florida. they've also been getting out here, picking the oranges, getting them to the processing plant as early as to be to try to get as much orange juice made and get these out of harm's way as they can. as you mentioned, a huge industry here, worth about $9 billion. 40% of the world's orange juice comes from central florida. so, it is a crunch time for the farmers here. and alex, it's not just oranges. also about 20 other crops throughout the state of florida, including strawberries and beans that are also at risk as a result of what could be a historic freeze with these temperatures down around 20 tomorrow and into monday. >> yeah. >> reporter: alex? >> sounds like the crunch time is going to turn to a punch in our wallet when it comes to paying for it. thank you very much, julie martin. across the pond, europe's in a deep freeze. britain in its longest cold spell in nearly 30 years has now registered its chilliest night this season. minus 22.3 degrees celsius. the cold has so many on edge.

the frustration even came across on a british newscast. >> in october, you predicted a mild winter -- >> indeed. >> and you repeated that prediction again on november the 23rd. that it would be a mild winter. so, given that it's clearly not a mild winter by any standards, why are you getting a performance-related bonus? >> oh, my. well, nbc's top aspell's in london with the latest. tom, tell us what it's been like there in europe? >> reporter: hi, alex. europe's cold snap is the worst in 30 years and we've seen snow closing roads and airports across the continent as icy blizzards from the arctic bring freezing temperatures and misery to millions. in britain, normally mild winters are just a memory, as schools close and millions stay home from work. local councils have used up so much gravel on the icy roads, they've run out of supplies, leaving thousands of secondary roads and sidewalks untreated, turning them into sheets of

black ice. eurostar, the train service which links britain to france under the channel, is running on reduced services. in sweden, temperatures dropped 40 degrees below zero, putting a strain on energy supplies. heavy snowfall in the czech republic has prompted the government to ban trucks from its roads. spain reports thick snow in cat leona, and heavy rains in italy have risen concerns over water levels. venice is facing exceptionally heavy tides. meteorologists predicting the cold weather to continue at least through the weekend with more snow coming across teurope. >> it's the snow that's making the difference in england? >> well, it's the snow and also the fact that it's been going on for three weeks now. i don't think the british have had cold weather lasting this long since the early 1960s, and that's really seemed to have caught the britons unprepared. >> tom aspell in london, thanks. well, a horse takes a stroll and winds up in an icy creek.

a look at the rescue coming up. and at the top of the hour, the rise and fall of tiger woods. rd. then let's do more than talk about it. let's turn picturing it into planning it, thinking it over into making it happen. let's say out with the old and in with the new. let's create some wall-to-wall "wow." [ man ] ♪ oh! [ male announcer ] more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, get any carpet installed for just 97 bucks -- any brand, any style, any number of rooms. announcer: you could buy 300 bottles of water. or just one brita filter. ( drop plinks ) brita-- better for the environment and your wallet.

now to a so-called cell-phone brain boost. researchers at the university of south florida say prolonged cell phone use may actually help reduce and reverse the effects of alzheimer's disease. joining me now from cleveland is mark a. smith, professor of pathology at case western university, i know we had a bit of audio problems, i hope this works for us. so should we be picking up cell phones and talking on them to discourage alzheimer's disease? >> i think it's a bit too premature to be doing that, but it is inan treeging study and we have to remember that this is in an animal model, so i wouldn't be encouraging people to pick up their cell phones at this point. but potentially in the future this could herald a new option

for the treatment of the disease. >> i mean, how could you see this playing out? if this does turn out to boost the expectations here, what would be happening? would people be treated via radiation for alzheimer's? >> potentially, yes. the mice were, or the animal model was exposed to waves similar to those we experience from typical cell phone usage. and i can't imagine, there were slight differences between the cell phones, but there could be some apparatus that constructed could be applicable to humans. >> i know you're well aware of the fact that other studies have suggested that radiation for cell phones can trigger brain tumor development, i don't know how strong the link is there, but how big a concern is that for you? >> i think the jury is out on both aspects. i think both the link with tumor development as well as maybe a

preventative for alzheimer's, they both need a lot more study. >> what do you see as being the next step in treating and preventing alzheimer's? >> well, i think this is an intriguing insight into the disease, and obviously we need to go from the animal model into the real disease and start looking at human clinical trials. >> okay. thank you very much for joining us from cleveland, ohio, looks like we got through it without any audio glitches. professor mark smith. >> thank you. it was a fight for life, a horse in louisiana caught in a creek. volunteer firefighters race to the scene yesterday, jumping right into those frigid waters to try to save the animal. it took a herculean effort but they managed to get the 1200 pound horseback on its feet and return to a warm stall. no one knows how the horse got loose but all are expecting that horse is much happier inside a warm stall. nine days into the new year now, all those resolutions made

just before the balanl dropped, the perennial one at the top of the list for every year, losing weight, getting it off. but it's going to cost you apparently to take it off. okay. >> everybody makes resolutions. >> it's always to lose weight. talk about this one. >> two-thirds of americans are either overweight or obese. astounding statistic. so they make the resolutions, they think this is the year to do it. but keeping the resolutions, not so easy. in part because the recession has made us flock to the high-fat comfort foods and the programs can cost $5,000 to $10,000 a year if you count the food, gadgets you might buy, the counseli counseling, it can add up. >> which are the high expense ones? >> they hate it, but one study found they're upwards of $500 a month. jenny craig can go that high if you're buying the dvd, the

valerie bertinelli dvd, whatever products they sell. their reps are commission based so they may try to sell you other things. >> do those things work, the dvds, the scales. >> the statistics are not good. >> how about those at the other end of the spectrum, things that don't cost quite so much. >> nutrisystem is a couple hundred less than the typical home delivery program. you get the prepacked portion control meals delivered directly to your home, over 160 meals to choose from, so that's a popular program, and then the atkins, the south beach can get pricey if you're loading up on filet and shrimp. >> you have to shop yourself. >> so your food costs can get up there but you don't neat to get the expensive proteins.

and in the two-week period you lose so much weight that maybe you only need to go on it for two weeks. and keeping it off is another thing altogether. that really is exercise, commitment ask all that stuff. >> i understand you talked to the ceo of weight watchers recently. >> it was interesting, he was talking about how the biggest competitor to the mass market programs, to the weight watchers, the jenny craigs is the person that does try it at home. that's the one. but also numbers, obesity being a huge problem. $150 billion a year problem, accounting for 9% of our medical costs. so it's a huge problem. >> obesity is 9% of our medical costs? >> $150 billion a year. >> so it would almost seem worth it to try and do this weight loss because it might bring down the cost all the way around. >> get your health together. this would be the year it do it. make the resolution and keep it. >> okay. thank you very much for that. and finally, in chicago, plenty of frustration with winter, as amtrak's california zephyr train pulled into union

station 19 hours late and the passengers are calling it the train ride from hell. it took three days to get from california to chicago t rain into massive snow drifts near hastings, nebraska. the nightmare was far from over because the train hit a pickup truck in ottumwa, iowa. by the time the zephyr hit chicago, passengers were fuming. amtrak has suspended service from chicago to denver at least through today. that is a wrapup of our live coverage, do stay with us for headline updates, breaking news as it happens. stay tuned right now for "the rise and fall of tiger woods. ." i'll be back with you tomorrow morning. we'll be looking for you at 8:00 a.m. eastern on msnbc. it's a cold day out there across this country. we'll take a look right now at -- there's times square for you. 44 degrees outside for you. we'll have full weather coverage for you as well. but if you're a tiger woods fan

and enjoy the lifrnlink, enjoy, care, everyone. this is onstar reporting a stolen blue chevy tahoe, south on i-75, near exit 5. we're on it. onstar, we may have that tahoe. ok, i'll flash the lights. we got it. it's in the clear. i'm sending a signal to cut the power.

we got him. mr. ross, the police have recovered your tahoe.