lester >> emilie ikeda, thank you. dramatic new details tonight about that hostage standoff this weekend at a synagogue near dallas and how the rabbi and two others were able to escape from the gunman morgan chesky is there tonight. >> reporter: tonight from a texas synagogue to a town in england, the investigation into saturday's hostage crisis now international. authorities id'ed the suspect as malik abram a 44-year-old british citizen, who the fbi says acted alone when he took four hostages during shabbat services a senior law enforcement official sharing police in the u.k. questioned akram's two teenage sons who according to that official were in touch with the suspect at some point on saturday there is no indication they're being considered suspects. akram was in the u.s. legally arriving at jfk airport on december 29th. rabbi charlie cytron-walker said he didn't notice anything suspicion until he heard a click during one of the prayers and turned to see a gun. he spoke to cbs. >> it was terrifying it was overwhel

further south, cities including baton rouge, new orleans and boloxie under freeze warnings our emilie ikedaas details. >> reporter: tonight another winter wall line up pummelling the northeast. a january freeze in half the country sends temperatures plummeting 20 degrees below this time of year's average. >> i need all of my layers up, even the mouth and nose. >> reporter: 12 million are under winter alerts. a rare ice storm taking aim at weather weary residents in the carolinas, with dozens of utility crews preparing for the worst. >> we hope that things goo smoothly and that we don't get hit too hard, but, you know, we're prepared in case >> reporter: just days ago, tens of thousands there lost power amid freezing temperatures. the one-two punch slickening roads, sending even an ambulance sliding near raleigh. the treacherous accident viewed from earth. a space x tracking cargo ships due to inclement weather. as far south as brownsville, texas, which recorded its fifth winter storm warning ever this week describe how cold today is. >> it is like you are stepping into a freezer. it is very

the miserable conditions paralyzing transit from skies to the roads and on the rails emilie ikeda is in new york's long island with more. >> reporter: tonight, a bomb cyclone burying the northeast. >> this is a very serious storm. >> reporter: snowfall totals reaching double digits in the region's first blizzard in years. >> whiteout, roads are awful, very, very slippery. >> reporter: atlantic city recording its snowiest january in history, as the winter blast dumps 19 inches in bayville, nearly 2 feet in iceland, and more than 14 inches in sterling, where snowfall blanketed areas up to 3 inches an hour >> snowplows can't come around fast enough to get that cleared. >> reporter: officials are urging residents to stay home to, one, avoid slippery roadways, and two -- take a look at this -- near whiteout conditions the winds picking up the snow and making travel that much more dangerous. gusts topping 60 miles per hour, slamming coastal communities, and ushering in official blizzard conditions in new york and connecticut. >> what's the worst part about this storm >> the visibility. you

emerge from this without any fatalities, that's nothing short of a new year's miracle. >> and emilie ikedans us live from boulder, colorado. now, what progress are firefighters making as they're trying to put out those fires? certainly getting help from the snow. >> reporter: hey there, peter so it is still far from being contained, but first responders getting badly needed help from the weather. first those winds have eased up second, you can see moisture on the ground snow covering burn scars like the ones you see behind me. boulder county could get up to eight inches of snow by tomorrow night. peter? >> what a dramatic difference in that scene in just 24 hours. thank you. for those tens of thousands forced to flee with almost no warning, it has been a terrifying ordeal. nbc's steve patterson now on the dramatic escape as the fires closed in. out the window, the smoke was thickening as jason fletcher in colorado for the holidays -- >> cassidy >> reporter: -- shot this video, he was at a chuckie cheese with his wife and family. >> i saw flames and i yelled, "flames. i see fire." >> report

emilie ikeda, nbc news. >>> amazing work by those officers let's turn now into the investigation into those pop-up covid testing sites you have likely seen. new warnings and now investigators are zeroing in on one company. with more, here's anne thompson. >> reporter: at strip malls, urban store fronts, even trailers. the center for covid control set up more than 300 testing sites in least 29 states tonight all of them are just down and the company is under investigation by the federal agency that oversees medicare and medicaid >> we're here doing free covid testing monday through friday from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 no insurance needed. >> reporter: there are growing questions about the pop-up site business practices spurred by business complaints like kelly fisher. >> it was the pop-up tent in the parking lot of a mini mart >> reporter: she got a test before going on a trip with college friends in september. >> i wanted the results in 24 to 48 hours and i got them a week later so by the time i received them, they were useless. >> reporter: now fisher wonders why they needed her insuranc

emilie ikeda with what they're demanding. >> reporter: the so-called year of the worker presses in 2022 as more than 8,000 workers at kroger's are now on strike in colorado. >> who's got the power >> we got the power. >> reporter: they're demanding higher wages as essential workers in the pandemic. >> it seems like people just don't matter. they just want their product >> reporter: the strike is the latest in a wave of labor union demonstrations from john deere to kelloggs and nabisco. how has the pandemic awakened this worker empowerment? >> it is really very much the product of a tight labor market that has increased the leverage of workers we're seeing this in record levels of quits as well as record levels of hires. >> reporter: workers are making a stand at a time when stores are struggling to stock shelves and a strike could grow in the coming days. >> they're essential workers, but they're being treated as sacrificial and disposable workers. >> reporter: a new study commissioned by the union indicates more than three-quarters of kroger workers are food insecure. kroger calls that

excellent reporting, emilie ikeda there on long island.hank you. >>> meantime, overseas for all of you, u.s. troops are on high alert as the pentagon warns that russia has the capability to launch a full scale invasion on ukraine in just weeks. president biden says he will soon be sending troops into eastern europe. defense secretary lloyd austin says conflict is not inevitable. let's go to nbc's matt bradley on the ground for us in the ukrainian capital of kyiv. welcome to you. high stakes diplomacy is underway to avert conflict militarily speaking. what is the latest. >> reporter: it's interesting that you ask that because looking around here, walking around this capital city, it really doesn't feel like anyone is all that concerned. we spoke with some people. we spoke with president vladimir zelensky and he didn't seem that troubled. today ukraine's future hangs in the balance, after tit for tat military drills by russia and ukraine. as the pentagon warned that the more than 100,000 russian troops that now surround ukraine are enough to

joining me is emily ikeda from pittsburgh and meteorologist bill karins. emily, there's a whole lot of snow, how are they doing there? >> reporter: hey, katy. the big change has been the wednesday, gusts coming through and making it feel that much colder. 35-mile-per-hour gusts expected for the pittsburgh area. that pales in comparison to folks on the east coast who are experiencing up to 70-mile-per-hour gusts. a foot of snow in pennsylvania, 22 inches in parts of western new york, an immense amount of snow and coming down at a fast clip in some areas, 4, even 5 inches an hour overnight, katy. >> bill, in looking at the forecast for the next few hours, the coming days, what should we expect? i know we had a really warm december through much of the country. is that going to continue? or are we going to be paying for it now? >> oh, we're paying the price. and it's only going to get worse. we have a lot more winter weather to go in the next two weeks, and cold too, especially in the eastern half of the country. the storm is now in the adirondacks, upstate new

. >>> let's go from there now to long island, and we have emilie ikeda joining us from there. how are things for you? looks like almost as bad as boston? >> reporter: hey there, alex, just like kathy, the name of the game is layering up. i have a ton of layers on. it is just frigid cold outside. a couple of hours ago i was stomping around here, and you can see my footprints covered, aside from the ones i took to get to this point, and that's because the snow is falling at an impressive clip, several an inches an hour. where we are in long island, parts have seen more than a foot of snow already, but really what hits you when you step outside the doors is wind, wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour, and what it does is picks up light snow, and throws it around making travel really that much more treacherous. in nearby new york city, they have crews working around the clock, nearly 2,000 snowplows out working the roadways while they're still encouraging people to stay off the roadways. we have seen a number of people get stuck in the snow. here in long island, the roadway is quiet.

>> emilie ikeda, thank you so much.turning to headlines out west, an underwater volcano continues to erupt near tonga, crippling efforts to get supplies to the pacific island nation. the eruption -- and take a look at it, is sending waves crashing to shore. remarkable satellite video capturing the moment of eruption. two people drowning in peru from the high waves. with waves of up to 4 feet reported from california to alaska, damaging boat mariners and leading to multiple sea rescues. nbc's gaddy schwartz joins us from los angeles with the very latest. gadi, tsunami conditions are, well, unusual, but not unheard of for the coast. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, jose. fortunately, most of the tsunami's power was dissipated by the time it reached the west coast, but it was definitely a reminder of just how unpredictable nature can be, even something more than 5,000 miles away. it's looking like it dodged any significant damage, but with the bay area, there were several places that saw huge waves. and in berkeley, hundre

nbc's emilie ikeda has the latest >> reporter: tonight, more than 60 million people are bracing for a dangerous winter storm barreling up the east coast from south carolina to maine. >> this has the potential to be an historic storm a huge one >> reporter: last minute shoppers are stocking up for what is looking to be a potentially catastrophic event >> i know in three hours this place will be completely empty, like nothing left. so, i'm stocking up. i'm not planning to go out. >> reporter: this stretch under blizzard warnings for the first time in four years governors pleading with residents to stay inside >> be prepared to hunker down once you get home this afternoon and stay home >> reporter: several have declared states of emergency ahead of the expected hurricane-force winds, whiteout conditions, and flooding in coastal towns like scituate, massachusetts, a community that could get slammed with two feet of snow kathy park is there. the ocean surge is expected t reach up to three feet so flooding is a big concern in low lying areas. this harbor will likely be underwater so officia

emily ikeda is there >> reporter: tonight, sobering news in colorado in the aftermath of the monstrous marshall fire three now missing. officials fear the worst. >> we unfortunately believe these are going to turn into recovery cases we're calling in cadaver dogs and search teams to help us with an effort tomorrow. >> reporter: hutch armstrong says family lost track of his 91-year-old grandmother while they were evacuating their home no word from nadine turnbull since >> they tried to go out the front door with the neighbor. it was engulfed. checked the back door, it was engulfed. >> reporter: turnbull's home among the nearly 1,000 destroyed with over 100 additional homes damaged. the fate of so many homes coming down to luck as you can see in superior, a completely destroyed neighborhood on one side of the street, untouched homes on the other >> i walked out my front door, and this is what i see. >> reporter: today with the investigation into the cause of the fire ongoing, authorities executing a search warrant at an undisclosed location as the recovery process is complicated by weath

emilie ikeda has the latest >> reporter: tonight an urgent search for two people missing since the marshalwallowed entire neighborhoods in colorado but officials fear a grim outcome their homes now ash. >> we are actively working at two scenes. it is very, very difficult work >> reporter: the monstrous marshall fire burned into the memories of residents. flames en gls gulfed the length of football fields within seconds. some barely escaped the hellscape and now face a painful recovery ahead. >> it's killing me that we can't be there for him. >> reporter: her father in the hospital after family saw him driving a neighbor out of the burn zone to put himself at risk to help someone else, does this sound characteristic of your dad? >> very much so. if he sees somebody who needs help, he's going to help. >> reporter: the aftermath apocalyptic. nearly 1,000 homes reduced to rubble. another 100 damaged. >> there isn't going to be a kid that doesn't know someone that's lost everything >> reporter: the sheriff has pointed to the area near marshall road and highway 93 as a possible origin of the dev

we have complete coverage this morning starting with nbc's emilie ikeda, she joins us in pittsburgh. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, parts of the pittsburgh area have seen snow. that number is going to continue to rise throughout the day, making for difficult, sometimes treacherous road conditions. what's noticeable about the storm is the pace of the snowfall. in western new york, 4 inches per hour, and we're not in the clear yet. this morning, a massive winter storm now walloping the northeast, a dangerous deluge of snow, sleet, rain, and damaging winds. >> it is a pretty mix of a lot of stuff. >> reporter: 100 million people under winter weather. an initial blast of snow turned to freezing rain in cities from washington to new york. >> we have seen a lot of vehicles sliding off on the side of the road. >> reporter: a foot of snow fell in buffalo. the northeast, the final gasp of a day's long storm system, sweeping from the northern plains to the southeast. states of emergency declared in virginia, georgia and the carolinas where treacherous driving conditions caused hundre

joining me now is emilie ikeda in lewisville, colorado.se do we know about the investigation? >> reporter: hey, there, still a lot of unanswered questions at this point, perhaps no one waiting more so with bated breath than the families of the three people who are missing. and really just a sobering development, taking a turn this weekend. authorities say they believe these search missions will turn into recovery missions, announcing they're going to be releasing cadaver dogs at some point this morning. and you can imagine how complicated this process is. not only are authorities having to parse through rubble, now they're having to deal with hot spots. >> we currently have three reported missing people. two in the area of superior, and one in the marshall area. we unfortunately believe these are going to turn into recovery cases. we're calling in cadaver dogs and search teams to help us with an effort tomorrow. the structures where these folks would be are completely destroyed and covered with about 8 inches of snow right now. so our abil

. >> emilie ikeda, thank you, and thank you for being put out there for us. >>> take a look at this,ellite images of an underwater volcano erupting about 40 miles from the capital of tonga. that's in the south pacific. new zealand and australia are sending surveillance flights now to tonga to assess the damage but local officials report that the country has been coated with volcanic ash and that a tsunami caused by the eruption, quote, it caused significant damage. the international red cross says up to 80,000 people may be impacted. >>> and up next, early signs that omicron fueled covid-19 surge is starting to ease up in some areas. why doctors say certain states, though, should still brace for the worst. >>> plus we're watching the hill closely this morning with lawmakers still at an impasse on voting rights. why it may be time for democrats to change the subject. why it may be time i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth. to change the subject. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. fo

nbc news correspondent emilie ikeda, thank you so much. willie?secretary of state antony blinken will travel today to kiev to be in ukraine and talk to the president there. we were talking about what's happening on the border and what the united states might be prepared to do if russia goes into ukraine. what does this signal announce to you? >> it's a hastily planned trip and two stops. first going to ukraine to meet with president zelensky and other support of troops at the border and then the secretary of state will move on to berlin where he will be with his organized french counterparts and an organized response to what russia is doing and what they may do if indeed russia steps across the border there as we've been discussing. tensions have risen, talks last week went nowhere, talks with the u.s. and russians. there's a sense russians may be preparing false flag operations to give itself a pretense, fake pretense, for invasion. and the secretary of state's present there, the top man from the united states, underscores how concerned the u.s.

we begin with nbc's emilie ikeda. she is on long island. >> reporter: good morning. evidence by the snow i'm trudging through. items like this. this is the fire hydrant nearly buried by the snowfall. officials across the northeast have said they prepared for the absolute worst. in nearby new york city, 2,000 salt plows and crews working around the clock. we could see up to 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts. something you could not ignore when you step outside. what it is doing when they come through. it is picking up light fluffy snow and blowing it around worsening visibility and travel conditions. another issue is the 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts which could bring down winds and power lines. the risk of the power outages. utility crews here, 900 at the ready, in long island alone. when power goes out in frigid temperatures, it can be dangerous. that is top of mind as the storm continues. we could see several more hours of conditions like this. pictures like this across the northeast. governors in several states declaring states of emergency in maryland, new york, new jersey

emilie ikeda continues our coverage. >> reporter: in colorado, the road to recovery means walking inous marshal fire. trudging through snow to face what's left, which for nearly 1,000 families, means nothing. >> you could count the number of items on one hand that you could salvage? >> uh, if that. if that. i mean, it's -- it's gone. >> reporter: the view from above capturing the historic blaze's wrath but to see it in person, louie delaware says, heartbreaking. bringing his family to tears. >> at what point did you realize that you were going to lose your home? >> um, basically, when we were leaving and the smoke was so thick and it was so hot and the wind was so fierce, i knew it wasn't going to be able to survive. >> reporter: under scoring the scale of destruction, authorities released a preliminary list of addresses that runs more than 20 pages long. >> i had no idea until i got there. i had been working and just had no idea. >> reporter: on that list, the police chief's street. >> i mean, it's tough. you spend 30 plus years of your life there and it's all gone. i mean, it's ash