something good i've done, not something humiliating i've done. >> safer: despite the downfall of the dreiershe madoffs, ponzi operators large and small are busier than ever knowing we're all capable of greed, misplaced trust, and something else. >> i think it's anxiety. it's anxiety that you're losing out, that other people are doing better than you are. >> safer: stephen greenspan is a university of colorado professor who writes and lectures on gullibility, warning audiences that not reading the fine print or buying something on a tip from your brother-in-law are bad ideas and that older people are particularly vulnerable to a friendly pitch from a conman. in most of the great moments of gullibility in history, the perpetrator seems to target a particular group, correct? >> yes. there have been mormon ponzi schemes targeting mormons or fundamentalist christians. madoff mostly was aimed at jews 'cause he was a prominent jewish philanthropist. so, yes, there is this affiliation aspect of it because we tend to trust our own kind. >> here in 1919 as charles ponzi self-styled financial wizard lo

. >> he wears the same robe as dylan dreier. >> it looks better on dylan. >> this is my grandmother's. >> do you like it? >> could you close it up? thank you. just close it up. >> what? it's early. >> ho, ho, ho. >> oh, absolutely. >> it is early, that's all have i to say. >> we have to get to business. do you have any good christmas memories in 15 seconds or less? >> none. >> moving on. >> he likes business news. >> have you seen my shirt? >> no. >> who has two thumbs and loves christmas? >> exactly. like the artwork. >> you like this? oh, don't you like that? by the way, i sent that to mike for christmas, too. >> could you close your robe and go -- >> he closed his robe. >> i just brought you the papers. going to get you some oatmeal. >> i like the lace on that. >> to business now -- >> we'll be back. >> to business. we're expecting a light week of trading because of the holiday. investors are hoping to build on record closes for the dow and s&p 500. >>> for other headlines let's go to cnbc's jeff live in london. jeff, don't you know it's christmas? all right. >> hey, good morning t

maybe planning has something saying, no way, because this used to be a dreier cleaner in the bottom and it's toxic. i think that's where they're just vetting to make sure it's safe for a food product or something of that nature. could be in a residential building because they might have something, conditional use or change of use of that particular residence might have happened. >> i don't think that -- it's not really proscribed in the planning code here. if a residence is above a dry cleaner, it wouldn't be permitted. right now it's being permitted in all zoning districts. so, and i think if this falls within that realm of the health concern realm, that might -- at this particular point might be more of a concern, you know, from the department of public health's concern. but we haven't defined -- it doesn't define right now any areas where -- if it's above a dry cleaner or not, it's permitted in all zoning areas. so, there are no qualifiers in terms of where it may or may not be permitted. so, i think at this point in terms of the zoning department, maybe the most is just saying it mi

nbc meteorologist dylan dreier has the forecast for the travelers. there's a big storm brewing in the northwest. good morning. >> good morning, alex. yeah, we are seeing most of the activity in the pacific northwest, but most of the country doing a lot better as everyone travels back home as opposed to how this whole holiday weekend started off with that huge storm system making its way in from the southeast. but for right now, we're not really seeing too much of an issue, even in the pacific northwest, although there could be flight delays into ctac airpo -- sea-tac airport. the snow in the mountain passes. the snow level is above the mountain pass level. so that is certainly helping with any folks trying to get over the mountains. it's mostly just rain at this point. in the northeast, though, in boston just outside of boston, about 45 miles to the west, we saw some slippery road conditions with the wintry mix early this morning. although, it is up to 44 degrees now. there could be some slick spots out that way, especially in the higher elevations.

nbc's dylan dreier has more. >> reporter: throughout the midwest and northeast, down trees and powermelting and freezing temperatures. all fallout from last weekend's brutal ice storm still wreaking havoc. worst hit, michigan, where more than 150,000 remained without power christmas day. george, his wife marian and their dog shep left behind their stockings hung by the chimney to seek warmth at a hotel. >> we spent our anniversary yesterday, 23 years, at a motel. very romantic. >> the charlie family brought their stockings with them. >> everybody is having a tough time and we still don't have any power, but we don't care. we're together. >> crews worked tirelessly giving up their own holiday to restore power to cold residents who had been without heat, some for five days. >> we've got 800 men and women working in the field to try to get as many families and homes restored with power. we know how important this time of year is to families and we're working very hard and very diligently. >> a home with heat, a welcome gift even if it comes after christmas. >> indeed. >> that was nbc's

nbc e nbc's dylan dreier is in fortt smith, arkansas.ning, tamron, the snow is now taking over for the freezing rain that we had all day yesterday and through the night. it accumulated here in ft. smith, up to about half an inch on anything it could touch. some reports in parts of oklahoma and west central arkansas with up to an inch or more of ice accumulation on the trees and the power lines. we've gotten reports of several limbs down and power lines across the stree there are throughout the storms in parts of texas all the way up to the midwest up to hundreds of thousands of people without power, 150,000 alone in dallas itself. we have gotten reports of all flights into and out of dallas-fort worth cancelled today because of the ice they are seeing out there. treacherous driving conditions on the roads. several jackknifed trucks, several spinouts, and the ice is just going to continue to accumulate in some of those areas as we go through the day today, but we will see some improvements before another storm, ice storm moves in on sunda