this isn't an amtrak problem.s a national problem and it's symptomatic of a declining emphasis we are putting on national connectivity in recent decades. we have become myopic, not understanding the need for a united vision for the united states. you see, many of the same challenges in the airline business, their domestic capacity has fallen by 20% since 2005 and about half of the airline flights on routes of less than 500 miles been discontinued since 2005 and is hitting small and midsize communities hard and making it difficult for them to grow or even to do business outside of town limits. under these circumstances you might think that strengthening national connectivity between our communities and our economic centers would be a national priority. that if you thought that, you would be wrong. it's not. we are not really making the investments we need for growth and improvement. we are just barely keeping the existing system growing. amtrak, like everyone else in the transportation business, is trying to keep p

amtrak trains being more crowded, is this something amtrak is considering for revenue? >> we are looking at all of the things. we are looking at how we might be able to raise revenues. in some of my discussions in the meeting before they came in here and we really talked about there was a desire of a lot of people for us to reduce fears rather than have them where they are or increase them. what isinly look at happening on a revenue management level just like the airlines do. for theeally looking opportunity to increase our revenues. that is why you see an increase of 21%. we are managing our revenues. for otherking opportunities as well. there is a bill in congress for us to be handling pets at thist ime. there are some opportunities going forward. we're looking at what the ratios might be that we could increase our revenues to our customers and seeing what they would be interested in paying. those are the kinds of things we are looking out. >> a couple of questions about amtrak customer service. planning tore you address amtrak's inconsistent levels of customer servic

i like amtrak food. it's generally good appearing at some of this, it sounds to me like that is what he might be talking about, i'm okay with that going, myself, but we do have people that are focused on trying to improve food, and we would like to make sure that that happens. this question are calls them wonderful but says they must be costly in a high-cost operation where the competitors don't have them. how long can they be justified at amtrak? >> i will tell you, down here in washington they get their workout. they finally learned not everybody that is coming in the front door once to come to amtrak. some of them want to go to the buses and that wasn't a part of the deal. so, we have a lot of people that absolutely need help with the amount of baggage and what they want to do to get on the train. we see it as an important part of customer service on the train >> we have questions on long-distance service. let's make sure that we get in one of those. can you comment on the significance of those in the

it is a great time to be an amtrak. i'm happier growth indices continue to rise but the fact of the matter is we're constantly being asked by everyone, a rural communities, to the nation's biggest cities to deliver more and better service. state and local leaders see it as a way for economic development of finding ways to invest in their local train stations many towns are seeking to become an amtrak service community. bus service is gone comair service is goning communities are starving for tangible transportation that can impact their lives and in many key respects transportation has converse for many americans. and more expensive. they want to see that tied it difficult turn. it is not a new track problem but a national problem and symptomatic of the declining emphasis we're putting on national connectivity in recent decades. we have become myopic not understanding the need for united vision of the united states. many of the same challenges the domestic capacity falls 20% since 2005 and half of the airline flights on

are taking amtrak today. th keystone run, northeast regional, even the assecela exps trains to new york. they're all facing a rough go because amtrak decided because of the cold weather they would cancel several regular runs to new york. and that means that when you cancel some, of course, people are rebooking. so the other trains are likely going to be either sold out or close to it as people head to the northeast. amtrak is saying that they will work with their passengers. they put out an alert yesterday to let everyone know that they were planning on taking this action. they're also offering refunds or vouchers to any passengers who feel that they just don't want to make the trip today or perhaps are already finding that their trip has been canceled and they can't rebook because the other runs are already sold out. we'll be watching this. likely to get really hectic here as we approach the morning rush hour. reporting live at union station, richard jordan, news4. >> thank you. >>> we could soon feel the ef

that's glorified amtrak. glorified local commuters. that's not the intent of voter or -- voters or anybody on this measure or for that funding which is scarce money these days. in california and the huge problems we have in trying to get a budget done and move eventually toward balance in our federal budget. it isn't a priority that with we should be doing. so mr. speaker, i just want to te that again, congressman denham will be having a hearing tomorrow in his transportation and infrastructure subcommittee at 10:00 a.m. washington time develop manager on this situation. i'd invite you to participate or watch that and expose what really needs to happen with federal funding as well as maybe perhaps the people of california have an opportunity to weigh in on assemblyman gerrell's proposal to have this pack on the ballot and maybe shift our scarce funds to other things. with that, mr. speaker, i thank you for the time here tonight and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the jevt from california have a motion?

amtrak did put this out yesterday. they anticipated this, they put the alert out to the passengers who were booked on these trains. and that's why many people have had the opportunity now to rebook which is why you're going to see congestion later on in the day to new york and boston. amtrak is also offering some of its passengers refunds or vouchers if they don't want to take trips today. really, just two big cities that are experiencing problems on the rails this morning. it's boston and new york. if you're planning on heading out to either of those cities this morning, y'all want to check ahead before you come out it union station. reporting live at union station for news4. >>> 4:46. football fans hope the new york city area warms up by next weekend. this is what metlife stadium in new jersey looks like now. it's hosting the super bowl a week from sunday. the nfl made sure yesterday it could get the stadium ready for the big game if another winter storm hits the area. workers practiced removing more than a foot of s

amtrak tried to make the best of it. that's what it looks like for their last night. you can see plows hard at work, new york state, upstate new york contending with lots of snow there. here is a freezing gas station. try pumping gas in this situation. you see blizzard snow whipping around. cars trying to get around with nearly zero percent visibility in this. again this is upstate new york. as we look at situations outside some of the highways there. this is indiana highway 65. what a situation there. cars crawling along on top of that ice and snow. slick roads, low visibility, a nightmare for everybody on the highway. up to the residential neighborhoods t snow blowers. if you don't have a plow like this you want add snow blower so you could get out of your house. sidewalks there piled up with snow. you can see there the roads impossible to bypass without moving that snow around. we also talked a little about in iowa firefighters trying to get rid of a fire there and their hoses were frozen. so a terrible situation. here it's tough to complain. we have this beautiful

amtrak is saying that earlier today that the temperatures the causing problems with the equipment and seeing a number of numbers in the northeast corridor. the lines are down and having problems with the electricity and the components and dozens of delays and cancellations and northern illinois three amtrak trains stuck in the snow overnight and affected 500 passengers that slept overnight on board the trains. >> after we left, we got stuck in five feet of a snow drift and we had stopped so many times before then, we thought just another stop. now it was nine hours. >> now, amtrak brought in buses to rescue the passengers and brought them into chicago after spending the night on board the trains stuck in the snow. major delays at the airports, 3,000 flights cancelled across the united states and many of them with jetblue that shutdown the operations in new york and operations and reseting and getting the crews and pilots in place and restarting the operations today. the plan is jetblue is hoping to open and running by 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. >> thank you, jonathan. stay warm. >> the

now amtrak knew they were going do this because of the weather yesterday. they sent out an alert to passengers, many of them were able to rebook. but for those that did not want to face the congestion on the train, those that did not want to travel today, they are offering refunds and vouchers. so so far right now, not too many people waiting in the terminal. again, a lot of them did have that early notice that there were going to be several cancelations today. if you are traveling by train on amtrak from union station to boston or new york, that's the keystone route or the northeast regional and acela express routes, you'll want to check ahead. make sure your train is still scheduled to take off. and then of course if it's not, you can do your best to rebook. amtrak saying it's going to work with passengers to make this an easier day than it might otherwise be. reporting live in union station, richard jordan, news4. >>> 5:16. new this morning, investigator trying to figure out what caused a train to shut down in connecticut stranding passengers in the bitt

. >> 500 amtrak passengers stranded outside of chicago, trapped by blowing, drifting snow. some amazing polar portraits of the winter snow, lake michigan is steaming cold, the water far warmer than the freezing air. a water main break threatened to turn this ohio street into an ice rink. the deep freeze shutting schools and icing fountains in the deep sitting. >> here in washington, dc, the air and whipping winds are bone- chilling cold, and down right dangerous. frostbite can kir in -- occur this five minutes. >> the cold has an impact on flights cross the country including the bay area. our reporter is at sfo with a look at what travelers are facing. >> mess at the airports and it continues to impact bay area passengers. here are the latest numbers from the past ten minutes: across the nation, 2,393 cancellations today. sfo has 31 cancellations, oak has 12 cancellations and san jose has four cancellations. this is creating a major backup and could take days to work through the system. this traveling band of siblings hit a bad note on the way across country to hartford con

amtrak fell to a stop yesterday afternoon.bout 500 amtrak passengers spent the night hunkered down. this morning, amtrak offloaded the first of the passengers on to buses and drove them to chicago. i talked with one of the passengers last hour. >> we were told it was going to have a lot of delays and it would be a slower train. then, we left and every train stopped that we went to. we would have little stops in between where we would have to clear something or wait for another train. there was one stop that lasted nine hours. >> that was a doozy. she is in her dorm room right now, sierra is. she is all warm and i don't know. she is probably jogging in place. i can't imagine sitting that long on a train, george howe. >> reporter: it is a bad situation, specially when you consider the temperatures we are dealing with. right now, here in the city of chicago, negative 9 degrees there. feels like negative 30 degrees. again, as you mentioned, there were three trains we are talking about just 80 miles west of chicago. we do understan

at least 500 passengers stuck overnight on packed amtrak trains. towns. main streets steaming rivers of ice. schools shut down in the deep south. >>> breaking this morning, nigella lawson's former assistants speak out for the first time since the explosive trial. why they have no regrets about forcing the celebrity chef to confess drug use. and why they say she's brave. >>> caught on tape. the incredible death-defying seconds when the car mows through this gas pump sending the attendant 30 feet into the air causing a dangerous fire. we'll show you what happens next. >> florida state rules the bcs.

. >>> for those of who you use amtrak, they're operating on a modified schedule basically along the east between us and boston so you want to be aware of that if you're one of those that's heading out to a meeting or need to use amtrak this morning. for the most part here closer in, look at this. it's all green. no issues at all until you get to 270 where on the northbound side, there was an accident at route 80 in urbana. it was moved quickly to the shoulder. let's take a live look outside and here at route 109, we're in great shape. see how white this is? it's all discolored from all the salt and sand and treatment that's been done to the roadways. i found that a little odd when i headed out the door. i realize it's not icy. it's the road, the pavement. let's go back to the maps. no problems to report coming in from the west. we'll take a live look one more time outside. northbound 95, inbound i-66 everything is looking fine. we're going to go to andrea who is out at the ice desk. andrea? >> reporter: i know. i'm at the ice desk and also out here with delia goncalves. i wore the hat. d

. >>> amtrak is trying to get rail service back up and running this morning. taking a live look right now at union station. you can see that flag there whipping around in the wind. meanwhile, amtrak saying nearly all of it's trains out of d.c., new york, and boston should be running today. still, they say you should leave extra time and expect some delays along the way. well, almost everyone feeling the brunt of the storm is to the north of our area. for some that snow and the cold are no longer the big concerns. sarah shows us some of the hardest hit areas. >> reporter: the forecast warned and the weather delivered. a winter storm that still has the east coast reeling. expressways closed, flights cancelled, thousands stranded and hots on stand by to treat those exposed to the fridged air. >> it is freezing. >> reporter: in massachusetts, snow fell along with temperature that reached as low as 20 below. coastal flooding in the state sent chunks of ice into front yards. >> beautiful place in july but this time of the year it's tough. >> reporter: more icy flood

how amtrak riders in the bay area got stranded in the male snow. >> i wake up.y was knocked out for a couple seconds. i'm in what pool of my own blood. >>> how a paralyzed bay area fire chief battled through adversity to make randy page miraculous return to work. p ,,,, so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron! whoa. ah...yeah, pretty much walked into that one. geico anywhere anytime. just a tap away on the geico app. covered california is howet californians can take advantage of the affordable care act. we can help you get quality health insurance right now. to sign up, call 800-890-7561 or go to coveredca.com. you can also use our website to find local, in-person help. there's not much time left - open enrollment ends soon. so call 800-890-7561, or go to coveredca.com, and get covered. so yso you can

. >> 500 amtrak passengers stuck in a snow drift made their way home after a brutal night. the train got stuck on the tracks in northern illinois. they did have power and heat. passengers were alerted for one train and then put on buses to chicago. >> i am exhausted. i have mad -- i have not had much sleep. >> amtrak is running on a modified schedule on the northeast corridor. crews are repairing tracks. >> good news for air travel starting to return to normal now. the travelers are clear just yet to accommodate the rescheduling. it could be days before everyone is back on track. your weather forecast is covered all day for you. you can get updates anytime on wjla.com and our smartphone app. >> a bizarre hit-and-run crash. the search for the driver tonight. two children were hit. picked up stopped, the children, and then drove them home. that is when he took off. the children's mother spoke with us. she wants answers. >> scared little girls have bumps and bruises after what happened. pain goes to my side. i had some bruises. >> she is out of the hospital after being struck

the toll mounting. >>> this amtrak train frozen in its tracks.passenger live. >>> now day exclusive. dennis rodman live from north korea as he prepares for an exhibition game there. >>> an amazing finish over night. florida state's stunning come from behind. just how did they do it? >>> your "new day" starts right now. >> good morning. good morning. what a morning we're having here. >> good morning. >> it is tuesday, january 7th. happening right now, 180 million americans waking up on the cold side of history literally. the most dangerous deep freeze in decades. so it's not just about the numbers of the temperature itself. take a look at the scene. this is buffalo. a state of emergency there. vapor rising from snow covered roads as they brace for 3 to 5 feet of snow tomorrow. not inches. windchill 40 below. take a look at the map. these are the numbers that tell the story of what people must live through. chilly temperatures understatement of the year. feels like 50 below in de lawsuit. minnesota, 128 below -- 28 below. you're going to fly today

you know the 500 passengers stranded on three amtrak trains in illinois. what is the latest on them? and what kind of strain generally is this massive cold burst now putting on all electric grids in that area? >> reporter: well, specifically with the train passengers, they ran into a snowdrift that the trains beliefably couldn't get through. >> reporter: well, specifically with the train passengers, they ran into a snowdrift that the trains beliefably couldn't get through. so they were stranded for in some cases 13, 14 hours sitting in a train car, one of the biggest problems they had was that they were starting to run out of food. they were using the same bathroom. one passenger said it was absolutely disgusting. they had to create a smoking car. because smokers were getting agitated. it was so cold outside they couldn't let them outside to smoke so any created a smoking car. best comment was from a woman who said she could not feel derriere after 20 hours plus of sit down on the amtrak train. they were fed, they were kept warm and there were no injuries,

an amtrak train stuck in a snow drift. it wasn't the only one.h one of those stranded live. >>> plus, a teen with a mental illness shot and killed bay police officer. the officer maintained it was self-defense. but witnesses are telling a different story. that's next. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. >>> bottom of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin. we're talking weather and also talking about these passengers who were finally heading home after spending the night. some of them multiple nights trapped on these stranded amtrak trains. some of whom stopped for 15 hours or more because of these huge snow and ice drifts that were simply blanketing the tracks. this is video shot by someone onboard. showing the dri

at least 500 passengers stuck overnight on packed amtrak trains. in snow drifts on the frozen tundra. cities across america now ghost towns. main streets steaming rivers of ice. schools shut down in the deep south. >>> breaking this morning, nigella lawson's former assistants speak out for the first time since the explosive trial. why they have no regrets about forcing the celebrity chef to confess drug use. and why they say she's brave. >>> caught on tape. the incredible death-defying seconds when the car mows through this gas pump sending the attendant 30 feet into the air causing a dangerous fire. we'll show you what happens next. >> florida state rules the bcs. >>> and the thrilling final seconds in college football's biggest game of the year. florida state comes from behind to clinch victory over auburn. josh elliott is there behind the scenes. >>> good morning, america. from the frozen apple. josh, nice and toasty last night watching the game there at the rose bowl. and those seminole fans celebrating still in the wee hours of the morning. th

earlier today, amtrak brought in buses and bussed those people to chicago. close to 2400 flights canceled across the united states today. jet blue made the unusual move of canceling many of its flights for 17 hours to basically reset its system. it affected airports in new york city and boston. it blamed a combination of the bad weather, cold temperatures, and the fact that airline rules changed over the weekend requiring pilots to get more sleep. but it is one of many airlines suffering with these cold, cold temperatures. it makes it difficult for the tarmac workers to get out and fuel the plains. it is slowing everything down across the northeast. >> diane eastabrook is in maywood, illinois, a suburb of chicago, and not only cold there, but also dangerous. >> it is very dangerous, dell. it is about 8 degrees below zero today, which is a little below yesterday when we hit a low of 16 below with wind chills of around 50 below. so far here in the chicago area, they this treated less than a dozen people for weather-related injuries. we have seen four fatalitie

amtrak is operating on a regular schedule today. that could change as the weather changes. >> what about schools? several schools are still on holiday break tomorrow. some schools canceled events tonight because of the weather. a few schools dismissed early as a precaution. news 4 today will begin at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow. we'll let you know what the roads look like and if your kids will have the day off school. >> now is a good time to download the storm team 4 weather app. you can get the latest alerts, live radar and your forecast anytime in the palm of your hand. download it free. >>> today, police are trying to figure out what led to a crash between a metro bus and a woman in a wheelchair. it happened along mlk avenue near w street in southeast d.c. we are told the bus was making a right turn on to w street when it collided with a woman in an electric wheelchair. medics took the woman to an area hospital where she's expected to recover. no word on who had the right of way. >>> right now, police are investigating a bank robbery fro

the deep freeze stopped three amtrak trains, 80 miles west of chicago. trapping more than 500 passengers aboard. the tracks were closed due to snow blowing across the tracks. passengers have food and heat. they may have been better off than thousand who is are without power and warmth. more than 61 million have been asked to conserve electricity. tracie potts is in the middle of it all, to show us how people are coping. >> reporter: it's actually warmer in minneapolis this morning, 33 below zero with the wind chill. minnesota's got some of the coldest temperatures in the nation today. the midwest frost come-ons top of record snow that closed indiana's major interstate, several counties are in a state of emergency. in milwaukee, power crews are out in it trying to keep the lights on. >> just got to do your job. >> reporter: the arctic hurricane known as a polar vortex dipped into the deep south causing power outages in dallas and snow in georgia. >> i've been out sweeping and just kind of cleaning some of this off of my car. >> pretty fun tee see people a

rail lines, like amtrak, are running on a modified snow schedule in the northeast. lines are trying to maneuver around hard-hit places including philadelphia, which you see here. traveling anywhere today will be tough if you can avoid it are or maybe delay it in any possible way. can you imagine what amtrak will look like? >> bundle up at home if you can, definitely. 4:11. weather and traffic every ten minutes on the 1s. >>> tom kierein telling us more about what our weather is doing today. >> the first round was snow. that's tapering off and ending. snow on the eastern shore. we have a couple of lingering bans here in montgomery county, fairfax, prince george's. a few flurries flying through in the district of columbia, most of the snow has ended. temperatures were down in the low 20s to mid-20s. it has dipped down it into the teens further north and west. the winds are gusting to around 30 to 40 miles an hour. our windchills by around 7:00 this morning had will be down to near zero to single digits. by 8:30 they'll still be in the single l digits. by 10:00 winds m

amtrak says all passengers will be in chilling by noon which is 20 hours after they got stuck. >> pg&e crews are try to restore power to 2,000 people left in the dark. this is impacting customers in richmond. pg&e says the power went out at 3:00 this morning. the outage originally impacted 5,000 customers. there is in estimate when cruise will have the power back on. >> oakland police are investigating a shooting that occurred outside an east oak neighborhood market last night. a man was taken by ambulance from the royal market at 76th and mcarthur boulevard at 8:00 p.m. shot once. the condition, now, is unknown. he was conscious and alert on the way to the hospital, shell casings at the store suggest the man was shot outside and ran inside. police have not released any suspect information. >> antioch police are crediting a target store employee for giving the tip they need to rescue a kidnapped girl the focus of amber alert on friday night. our reporter talks with the target worker being called a heroine. >> i did not get a good vibe. >> it is her job to prevent shoplifting and she s

more than 500 passengers are now stuck on three amtrak trains heading into chicago because there's so much blowing and drifting snow. >>> now, all three trains were stopped last night in the northern illinois city of mendota, about 80 miles west of chicago. amtrak says the passengers are being kept comfortable and fed as workers try to re-open the tracks. we will stay on top of this breaking story throughout the morning. >>> and to give you an idea how super frigid this air is water vapors now rising off lake michigan in chicago. usually the frigid lake waters are much colder than the air but this morning the waters are actually warmer than the air above. chicago's temperature yesterday set a record at o'hare airport, 16 degrees below zero. >> wow, further north on the lake, these dramatic photos shot by photographer thomas zakowski that captured how extreme the temperatures are. these lighthouses in the michigan cities of st. joseph and south haven looking like a scene almost out of a disaster movie. they were captured in real life though on camera after a recent storm. >>> and furth

crews spent the day clearing the track and amtrak hopes to resume operations tomorrow. on ktvu.com our web team has posted a slide show of conditions across the country. >>> we've been showing you this nasty weather around the country. but let's go to chief meteorologist bill martin, and bill kind of steady as it goes. >> we need the rain. we talked about the governor declaring a drought and coming in here into the state of california it's been very dry. unprecedented really as john fowler talked about as well. as we look at the satellite imagine. what i pick up on is wasted opportunity. because you see all this moisture, this is all trapped. if it could get pulled in it would bring us significant rainfall. but the jet stream is way to the north and it's not going to connect with this. typically that's what happen this is time of year. those things phase up. just caught up in the polar storms and the rain comes through. but this year that has not happened. temperatures today were about where they were yesterday. a little cooler. we had clouds, we had sun. we had a littl

. >>> hundreds of amtrak passengers sat tight and huddled together to make it through one of the coldest nights i have their lives. three trains, including one from san francisco got stuck in northern illinois last night after snow and ice buried the tracks. about 500 passengers waited several hours for buss to arrive and take them to chicago. >> we got stuck. they couldn't get us out. they tried three times. two other trains got stuck trying to get us. >> some train cars were heated. passengers were offered a complimentary meal while i they waited. amtrak san selled several trains after the lengthy delay. >>> live look at sfo where the number of canceled flights is half what it was yesterday as airports try to get back on track. kpix 5's mark kelly tells us one of the biggest task is matching travelers with lost luggage. >> this is what happens when hundreds of b flights get canceled throwing airlines into a tail spin. unclaimed bag line the baggage the claim section in terminal 3. >> last time i saw my luggage was in chicago when we rechecked it. it was three days ago. four days ago. >

amtrak now says it is limiting service to and from chicago because of the weather. >>> prosecutors in new york have charged more than a hundred people with fraud saying they filed phony claims for social security disability benefits. most were arrested this morning. authorities say they faked mental disabilities such as post-traumatic stress disorder and many pointed to the september 11 attacks as the cause. the 106 defendants include 74 former police officers and eight former firefighters. investigators say the defendants collected 30,000 to $50,000 in a year in disability payments, many while working at other jobs. >>> the los angeles county sheriff lee bacah announced his retirement. it comes one month after federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against 18 sheriff's dependencies accused of beating jailed inmates and visitors. the 71-year-old has served as sheriff since 1998 and would have been up for reelection this coming june. >>> as 1.3 million americans wait to find out if their long- term jobless benefits will be extended, the senate takes a crucial vote on the issue. >>

this is an amtrak train loaded with passengers. the train froze to the tracks. they had to call in shuttle buses to get the passengers off of the frozen train, transport them back to the station. >> we're hearing from meteorologists this kind of weather unprecedented in the past 20 years. many schools and work places shut down in order to avoid the danger of having to go outside. you guys, boy, are we getting off lucky or what. >> i can't imagine living in some of those places. my gosh. >> thanks. and the freezing weather causing headaches for some jetblue passengers stuck at sfo waiting for a flight out of town. christie smith is going to join us live with an update on those flight delays in a few minutes. >> in the meantime, let's check in with meteorologist christina loren. she's going to be along as well with a local forecast. we'll do that in a few minutes. to find out more about the deep freeze affecting a good portion of the u.s. and how it's hurting travelers here in the bay area, in other news this morning at 5:03, today we can hear the evidence against

. >>> somebody must have left the door open on this amtrak train. snow-covered parts of the train's interior in maryland. the controls, seats, even the steering wheel were coated with snow and ice. >> that just looks cold. doesn't look like fun. >> right. >> they have been getting the very cold temperatures. they are going to see wind chills below zero. unbelievable! of course, we have had record- breaking temperatures. 10 days in a row, i think today may be the end of it but fire danger is running high over the mountains and the swells are building along the coastline. interesting though how it's breaking down today. we have some strong offshore winds developing over the mountaintops. over the north bay mountains. down below a surge of low clouds and fog bringing dense clouds at the coastline so throughout the morning, mostly clear inside the bay and the valleys. high fire danger with red flag warnings now posted in the north bay mountains until friday. and then mostly sunny and slightly cooler this afternoon and then sunny and mild weather expecte

you'll have to keep a close eye on schedules if you take marc or amtrak. marc says all three lines will operate on an s schedule, and the last train on the brunswick line will leave 40 minutes late to take into account the two-hour delay. amtrak says both acela express and the northeast regional will be on a modified absolutely, so you can expect fewer trains to be running today. >>> if you decide to dig out your car and drive, give yourself a lot of extra time. these are the conditions that one of our producers found in montgomery county on his way in. a lot of the streets he drove on had been plowed at least once. there is still a coating of snow and, in some places, maybe ice as temperatures are in the single digits right now. we are keeping an eye on road conditions across maryland, the district, and virginia to make sure you know what you're getting into in you have to head out. megan mcgrath live on the beltway near tyson's corner. what are you seeing? >> reporter: by and large, we're seeing decent conditions on the major roadways. we are injury coun

it's one of the premier ride to that amtrak offers. ride the is the one on interstate 680 with accident in the southbound direction with this in no great that trend is ride into a hot spot with traffic backing up now pass the highway turnoff. we continue to have a slow going here on 880 southbound with our accident on tennyson road between tennyson and industrial so it's a slow ride, down from 238 and a new accident for the ride here leading toward concord. surprisingly westbound way for a ride through an act doesn't look that bad at all. still looks good even with the meter in lights active. and no backups and the cash lanes. the golden gate bridge ride is fine and here at the san mateo bridge the volume is up but the speed is still down 13 minutes for the westbound ride heading over to our foster city. >>maureen: on this tuesday morning temperatures are too bad. we are working up to upper thirties. we do have high clouds streaming into the bay area as some paget frog to our south. as we get into the afternoon of those clouds will sti

amtrak says all passengers are in chicago by noon, 20 hours after they got stuck. >>> oak police are shooting that occurs outside an east oak neighborhood market last night. a man was taken by ambulance from the royal market at 8:00 p.m. after being shot once and his condition now is unknown but he was conscious and alert on the way to the hospital. shell casing at the store suggest the man was shot outside and ran inside. his have not released any suspectness. >> founding member of the former black panthers party will make a statement condemning the shooting death of 13-year-old andy lopez at the board of supervisors meeting today. lopez was shot to death in october by sheriff deputy erick gelhaus as he carried a plastic rifle. erick gelhaus believed it was real and said the boy refused to drop it. activists have held several protesters sin the shooting demanding justice for lopez and upset that erick gelhaus is become on the job. >> richmond is experiencing a significant drop in the murder rate. "contra costa times" reported the 16 homicides is the lowest number since 1980 after mo

amtrak has done everything they can to help with that. these are people that started their trips in california. two originated in california, one in california, one in los angeles. they added about 20 hours each to their trip. that was not a train that did not move at all because of these snow drifts that stopped the train from moving. they are now just getting here to union station and i am just listening in to one person who is being interviewed. my colleague said it wasn't really that bad. they understood there was nothing that could be done. it has been a mechanical problem. this was never nature. people people are -- i can tell you this. you can tell it in their faces. they are collectively very happy to be here in chicago, despite the frigid temperatures. >> it is all relative. i'm sure the people that came from l.a. are the least happy of all of them but they are all happy to at least be safe and you be warm, ted rowlands, you have been doing great job. >>> people in the south and midwest aren't traveling. the crippling cold is spr

this amtrak train froze in its track. >>> "new day" exclusive. answering the tough questions from north korea. is rodman helping open up the country or propping up a vision dictator. >> worst dating profile ever. she made herself out to be an absolutely awful person online, but posted these photos. the woman behind the experiment joins us live. >> your "new day" starts right now. >> good morning. welcome back to "new day." it's tuesday, january 7th. 7:00 in the east. the brutal cold snap is moving east. take a look at the map. the numbers tell the story. the colors are startling. you see it stretching from north to south, the plains to the atlantic. every state except hawaii is seeing freezing conditions somewhere. seeing some of the coldest readings in years. in new york it feels like negative 11. chicago, 30 below. in deluth, minnesota, 34 below zero. >> and flight troubles as well. 3,400 already. emergencies have been declared in minnesota, illinois, indiana and western new york. we have complete coverage of all the angles of the cold blast. w

heavy snow is pacific blamed for stranding more than 3 amtrak trains which became stranded 80 miles west of chicago. crews were brought in to clear the tracks and other trains arrived to pull the trains to their destinations and passengers remained on board at that time and amtrak says says it limit willing them. they tried to catch up and it looks like the problems will continue today and dozens of flights are already being dance selled. hundreds are being stranded because of the bad weather else where. coming up atcoming up at 6:30 we have alex savage and we have an update from fso and how passengers there are dealing with delays. making matters worse, jet blue shut down in new york and in boston. they must catch up on weather related delays and it gave crews a chance to service planes. the airline expects to have everything back up and named at pilots and they if the at least 17 delays and cans lakes of their own. that is because it is harder to schedule people and things have to be changed to accommodate the new rules. >>> we have been having such nice weather here and you may forget

>> icy conditions stopped amtrak trains carrying passengers to chicago overnight. >> canceled thousands of flight. >> the flight is five days from now. >> reporter: vice president biden offering u.s. support to iraq in the fight against al qaeda as they offer missiles and drones to help fight those militants. >>> florida state rules the bcs. >> we wanted to win. and my team got on my back and went the whole way. >>> lindsey vonn says she will not compete in sochi olympics saying her knee is not stable injuring it several times. >> a gas station employee is nearly killed as an elderly driver loses control behind the wheel. >>> all that and -- >> national zoo's panda. >>> things are freezing on my body which i didn't even know were possible to freeze. >> oh, my gosh look at you! >> i do appreciate you being with us. >> and all that matters. >> press secretary jay carney came out sporting a beard. >> my wife says she likes it so there. this is actually an hommaage to -- >>> demonstration in a designated area. >> putin says. >> announcer: presented by toyota. let's go places. >>> welcome to

there's another being developed on the western and as amtrak's gateway program.to build two new tunnels under the hudson river into manhattan. the current tunnel is 100 years old and not flood proof. they are at full capacity. it's not just a passenger rail project but a critical transit project. new jersey transit runs two-thirds of the trains from new jersey to manhattan. we have our end a fight with governor christie over that and i had federal funding so now we are going back at it because the need for tumult is crucial. so i had three questions on the gateway program. first you agree that it's a critical passenger rail and a transit project? second you believe it could be a candidate for the new starts program and third, do you need legislative authority to admit gateway into the new starts program? >> let me take those in order. i would point out that we have had a painful history and trying to get the necessary tunnel link capacity under the hudson and the time off that are currently serving an extraordinary number of passengers both on on the amtrak site

if you are looking at a plan b, a friend of mine's flight was canceled and she booked a ticket on amtrak. they will have a modified schedule for the north east corridor or and reduced frequencies will cause delays. passengers that require modifications will be put on other trains and refunds are available are those who have paid and do not want to travel today. reagan,re coming to keep an eye on the monitors the cousin things are changing by the minute. john gonzalez. >> johnny is quite the trooper out there in the 10 degrees. >> you know it is a cold day when he has a hat on. it rarely makes an appearance. >> a good example of how you should not be dressing today. if youangerously cold are outside for a long time and you have exposed skin. you want to cover up everything today. the wind chill is minus seven and the winds are out of the north at 23 miles an hour. they will diminish and will keep up a little bit more to keep things a little bit cleaner. the temperatures will not but a whole heck of a lot. check out the windchill across the region. it feels like six degrees below zero in g

amtrak and metro. unacceptable says rodney. several passengers go on to say that their flights were delayed because they did not have pilots. it just so happened that a new faa regulation went into place today that limits the amount of hours that a pilot can be at these controls. airlines are bracing for more delays like today. some bad timing for those new rules. stay connected for the latest weather conditions. be sure to download our storm w atch app. metro spokesperson telling us that shots were fired near the naval road metro station. at this point, police have not made any arrests in this case. no word on what led to the shooting or what impact it may have on metro service. family and friends hope the u.s. navy will join the search for an american student who has been missing in dubai. he has been missing since wednesday. he went for a drive off the coast of dubai and never resurfaced. the net -- united arab emirates coast guard have look for him without success. the algerian national is a phd candidate. since he is not a

we have had amtrak do some necessary investments, even as part of the east side access.ey are responsible for the herald interlocking, a large portion of the project. there may be a way of doing this without special legislation, but if it is needed, it will be called your attention. i do not think so on its face. >> could you get back to me in writing in a few days on that? >> sure. >> finally, the montague tunnel. we have a interest in restoring this tunnel. give me a status report on how the repairs are going? >> i understand things are going along well. this is one of the benefits you get from closing the entire facility. you do not have to worry about the safety risks posed by the workers. you have the ability to put all kinds of equipment in the tunnel because you do not have to move trains. at the same time. i have heard nothing to the effect that they are on schedule or over budget. indeed, in some of these tunnels, we are making it through our local resiliency funding to just allow them to move utilities to the roof of the tunnel, so should we have flooding again

amtrak's gateway program. i'm sure bob is interested as well.to build two new tunnels under the hudson river. the current are 100 years old, not flood proof, in full capacity. it's not just a passenger rail project but a critical project. it runs two-thirds of the trains bringing workers from new jersey to manhattan. we had to fight with governor christie over that. i had federal funding. now we're going back at it. the need for tunnels is crucial. so i had three questions on the getway program. first, you agree it's a critical passenger rail and transit project. second, do you believe it could be a new start program. and third, do you need legislative authority to admit it to the new starts program? let me take them in order. we had a painful history in trying to get the necessary tunneling capacity under the hudson and the tunnels that are currently serving an extraordinary number of passengers both on the amtrak side and the new jersey transit side. >> that's diplomatic, mr. chairman. painful history. >> the tunnels are over 100 years old. do

there's another being developed on the western and as amtrak's gateway program.to build two new tunnels under the hudson river into manhattan. the current tunnel is 100 years old and not flood proof. they are at full capacity. it's not just a passenger rail project but a critical transit project. new jersey transit runs two-thirds of the trains from new jersey to manhattan. we have our end a fight with governor christie over that and i had federal funding so now we are going back at it because the need for tumult is crucial. so i had three questions on the gateway program. first you agree that it's a critical passenger rail and a transit project? second you believe it could be a candidate for the new starts program and third, do you need legislative authority to admit gateway into the new starts program? >> let me take those in order. i would point out that we have had a painful history and trying to get the necessary tunnel link capacity under the hudson and the time off that are currently serving an extraordinary number of passengers both on on the amtrak site

on the rail ways, and i've just come from penn station, we see a couple of delays on the amtrak systemthe local system seems to be okay. we'll get the snow going all the way tonight. so tonight's commute is being badly disrupted, and disrupted,t casualty so far is governor chris christie of new jersey who has declared a state of emergency in his state, as has the governor of delaware. and because the weather is so bad, they were going to have a big party on ellis island on the new jersey side of new york harbor. because of the weather they have canceled the party and all the food has been given to the food pantries. there would have been a lot of food. >> there would have been. if you're trying to catch a flight, is there a chance that will happen for you tonight? >> reporter: i can't hear you because the snowflakes appear to be getting bigger, apparently. oh, no, we've done that joke. if you're planning to come into the northeast today or tomorrow, forget abouforget about "it." they canceled 3,00 3,000 flights flights{^l" ^}. so there are going to be a lot of people camping out at the

it caused three amtrak ace trains there to truly get stuck in their tracks, close to 500 passengers, had to spend the night on board those trains. >> after we left we got stuck in five feet of a snow drift. and the scary part was we had to stop more than we thought this was a 15-minute thing. no, it was nine hours. >> those passenger has to finish their journey to chicago by bus. at the airports also a lot of problems. close to 3,000 flights just today have been canceled across the country mainly in the midwest and northeast. jetblue is getting back in the air after getting an extraordinary steps. and grounded the planes for 17 hours and just now resuming operation notice northeast. >> it looks like the "plains, trains, and automobiles" report. that's jonathan betz from penn n station in new york city. >>> i got to tell you that others are struggling to get where they need to go, and others struggle just to stay warm. scenes like this found in many cities across the country, people dressed in layers as they made their way to work. many towns opening shelters to help folks. bisi onile

amtrak says trains are still on a modified schedule because of all the snow and ice. >>> remember, from your morning commute to school closures, the "news4 today" app can keep you up to speed when severe weather strikes, even when you're on the go. download it for free at itunes. >> a lot of cool options to keep you informed and entertained in some cases. >> that's right. we're hearing from people using the alarm, one of our voices. we like danella's. >> that's it. yours, too. >> yes. danella's is popular. >>> coming up on 4:31. good morning if you're just waking up. want to get you caught up on the forecast. >> storm team 4 meteorologist amelia siegel is here with the latest. >> good morning. everybody under a windchill advisory until 9:00 a.m. this morning. until 9:00 a.m., windchills will be as low as anywhere from ten to five degrees below zero. here's the windchill temperature, how it's feeling when you step out the door. it feels about four in washington. zero in rockville and reston. two below in manassas. dulles right now, it's feeling about seven degrees below zero. yesterday m