joining me now is a criminologist, jack levin from northeast oouuniversity. o see, jack. >> thank you, fredericka. >> yeah. there were a lot of predictions within the last five years of crime rates soaring in large part because of the bad economy. this is the opposite. what is the common denominator in your view? >> well, you're absolutely right. we thought the crime rate was going to skyrocket. >> yeah. >> because of the budget cuts and so many inmates being released after the war on drugs. instead, the murder rate, the rate of serious crime has plummeted over the last four years. and, you know, i think chicago now knows what a lot of other major cities have already discovered, that the police can do a lot more than just respond to crime. they can also prevent it. they can send more and more officers to crime hotspots around the city. they can do more about prosecuting gun crimes. they can supervise our youngsters, collaborate and cooperate with the residents. the probation officers. the patrol officers. they can get involved in the gangs. they can do communi

criminologist jack levin of northeastern university, thanks so much for your time and expertise. appreciate it. >> thank you, fredericka. >> and happy new year. >>> all right. we've got much more straight ahead in the "newsroom." right now it's 3:00 eastern time. i'm fredericka whitfield. here's a look at our top stories. on the heels of a massive snowstorm, a fierce arctic cold front is sweeping across the country threatening to push low temperatures even lower and possibly shattering records across the u.s. >>> and we have the results of a new study on vitamin e and alzheimer's disease. hear what happened when patients took the antioxidant every day and what the lead researcher is saying about the findings. >>> plus, a setback for women trying to land a combat role in the u.s. marines' mandatory physical requirements for females now being delayed. we'll tell you why and what effect that could have on the battlefield. >>> a powerful blast of arctic weather is about to sweep its way across the u.s. and it's headed for tens of millions of people who were already hit by this week's

levin, where'd you grow up? >> guest: i grew up outside of philadelphia in a township called chel tonham for most of my youth in a community called elkin's park. >> host: why did jack and norma live there? >> guest: that's a good question, because they were born in philadelphia, and they started a nursery school and day camp right outside of philadelphia in springfield township, pennsylvania. so pulling back just a little, i was originally raised in erdenhime, and then we moved to the other township which wasn't far away. so they were small business people. my mother was a former teacher. my father was a artist, and they started that business together, and they ran it for almost 20 years. >> host: are they still living? >> guest: they are. my father's 88, my fore's 82. -- mother's 82. they are just, you know, they're wonderful. -- >> host: still in the philly area? >> guest: they live in florida. and be i have an older brother, doug, who lives in philly, a younger brother, rob, who lives in virginia. and my parents were role models for us. i mean, my belief in this country, my love of this country, my desire to do what i can in my own role, in my own way to preserv

levin, where'd you grow up? >> guest: i grew up outside of philadelphia in a township called chel tonham for most of my youth in a community called elkin's park. >> host: why did jack and norma live there? >> guest: that's a good question, because they were born in philadelphia, and they started a nursery school and day camp right outside of philadelphia in springfield township, pennsylvania. so pulling back just a little, i was originally raised in erdenhime, and then we moved to the other township which wasn't far away. so they were small business people. my mother was a former teacher. my father was a artist, and they started that business together, and they ran it for almost 20 years. >> host: are they still living? >> guest: they are. my father's 88, my fore's 82. -- mother's 82. they are just, you know, they're wonderful. -- >> host: still in the philly area? >> guest: they live in florida. and be i have an older brother, doug, who lives in philly, a younger brother, rob, who lives in virginia. and my parents were role models for us. i mean, my belief in this country, my love of this country, my desire to do what i can in my own role, in my own way to preserv