Transcripts For KUSA Today 20160123

This is our third flight change. Hundreds without power and on the roads, more spent the night in their cars. Traffic coming to a standstill. The dangerous blizzard is not showing any signs of letting up. Today, saturday, january 23rd, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today blizzard 2016. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today. Im erica hill. Hardy souls. Im alongside Sheinelle Jones and al roker. We have dylan dreyer out in the field along with our meteorologists. This is all of the effected states and those under a blizzard warning. The warning from virginia to southern connecticut. Already so much going on. Lets get the latest on the storm. 1 to 3 inches per hour. Already washington, d. C. Has more than a foot of snow on the ground. They are expected to get more than 2 feet. Philadelphia, 9 inches already. They are expecting up to 2 feet as well. Here in new york, we are now expecting more snow than originally predicted. At least 3 inches at this hour, but up to a foot or more we are told when it is all over. The storm has life threatening blizzard conditions. A storm this big has not been seen in washington, d. C. In nearly 100 years. No surprise, the roads are dangerous. People are told to stay inside. Thousands of accidents. The roads. The storm is a huge mess as you can imagine. Lets get to dylan dreyer who joins us from the Nations Capital. Erica. This hit washington, d. C. With a vengeance. We already have more than a foot at the coast in virginia and delaware, we had reports of wind gusts of 65 to 75 Miles Per Hour. One report in virginia up to 85 miles an hour. Thunder snow reported in baltimore. That goes to show you the intensity of the storm. We will see the conditions continue all through the night with blizzard warnings not expiring until tomorrow morning. The Nations Capital taking a direct hit. Washington, d. C. Expected to be buried under as much as 2 feet of snow by the end of the storm. Stay off the roads if you dont need to be on the roads. Reporter the storms scope reaches from the carolinas to new york, has turned deadly. Fatal crashes in virginia and North Carolina. Hit had the brakes and when you hit the brakes, they lock up. Reporter thousands of crashes locked up major roads up and down the east coast. Accidents still ended up spinning wheels like wsnb reporter in nashville. I am stuck. I have the pedal to the metal. Im not moving. Reporter governors in ten states and District Of Columbia have declared state of emergencies. The National Guard has deployed 400 personnel to help the sickened and stranded. Shelters are opened to help homeless survive freezing conditions. We cannot have people outside. It is unsafe. Reporter 21 degrees with the windchill of 8 when rescuers in virginia saved this Saint Bernard who fell through the ice. The plowing started wednesday and wont be done until sunday. Airports are empty. More than 6,000 flights have been canceled since friday. Delays rippling across the country. We got warnings from everyone. If you dont get in to new york by friday, dont think about it reporter amtrak is operating on a modified schedule. Greyhound is cancelling service for much of the east coast. Blizzard conditions from washington to new york. Winds up to 60 Miles Per Hour and nearly 140,000 people are already struggling in the cold without power. Now we followed this storm from roanoke, virginia, yesterday to here in washington, d. C. What should take four hours took us nine hours on the road. We are going to attempt to get to new york city today by taking i95. I know we just told you we shouldnt be on the roads. I want to point out we are traveling in the blue mobile. This is a satellite truck that will be able to feed you guys our trip from here up along i95 to new york city. It is an extremely heavy truck and we are taking it very slow. We will update you over the course of the show on the travels. I dont think we will be too far time we see you. Race. Thank you, dylan. The question is when will all the snow let up and when it is ground . Al is here this morning with that and more. It will be done in about 24 hours, but we are dealing with the effects of this into next outages and snow. We will have to get rid of it. Look at the swath from montauk to the appalachian. Here is why we ended up upping the amounts. The storm moved further north than predicted. We have blizzard warnings from virginia all the way to marthas vineyard. Winds of 35 Miles Per Hour or more and sustained as you get in for three hours or so. It also means you have visibility of less than a quarter of a mile. Cranberry, new jersey, 7 inches of snow. Now, they are looking at 6 inches of snow. It is still coming down. At this point, it is falling at about a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour. So heres what we look for as far as the accumulations. Keep in mind we will look at winds gusting over 50 Miles Per Hour. Heavy snow for washington and baltimore. 24 inches or more when all is said and done. For philadelphia, central and southern new jersey, heavy snow into the early afternoon. 18 to 24 inches of snow with winds gusting up to 40 Miles Per Hour. In the new york area, we expect to see 18 to 24 inches of snow. This heavy snow continuing into the afternoon. Winds gusting up to 50 Miles Per Hour. We are looking at blizzard conditions. New haven, 8 to 12 inches. Providence at 3 to 6. Boston will see 2 to 4 inches. From delmarva and all the coast. We will deal with this for a week. Al, thank you. You will need a lot of rest. Keeping your eye on this. Another rokerthon coming up. Nbcnews. Com. Two days ago washington, d. C. Was almost brought to a standstill with just a brushing of snow. Is the city equipped to handle this storm . The washington mayor, mayor bowser is here with us. Good morning. My pleasure. Morning . As you have been reporting all morning, we are in the eye of the significant storm. A storm we have not seen like this in washington, d. C. In 94 years. We got out early pretreating our streets, closing our government and schools on friday. Really encouraged everybody to we have seen since yesterday, with snow starting about 1 00, 13 inches fall and we think the forecast is going to hold. We are going to get at least another foot. Back in the 90s, heavy snowfall shutdown washington, d. C. For an entire week. How is this storm . This is a blizzard with sustained winds. We prepared our residents and stay inside for 36 hours. We are seeing the winds pick up today. Very hazardous conditions. Nobody should really be out on the roads. Were keeping our roads passable for emergency vehicles. Tomorrow, if it stops as it is planned to, the big digout will proceed. Mayor, when there was less than 2 inches in washington, d. C. Two days ago, people were stuck in the cars for hours. Motorcade back to the white house slipping and sliding. Are things different this time around . Theres no similarity to tell you the truth. This blizzard has been forecast for several days. Our entire apparatus is running out of other homeland and Emergency Management agency. We have all of our resources fully deployed. Washington mayor bowser, thank you. Thank you. Everybody stay safe. I want to head where the snow is less of an issue at this hour. Heavy amounts of ice could cause problems for millions if the south. We have nbcs Gabe Gutierrez joining us from charlotte, north angle. Gabe, good morning. Reporter erica, good morning. More than 130,000 customers in North Carolina are without power and we take a live look from the air. You can see there has been plenty of snow and sleet here in the charlotte area, but rain as you had initially expected. There are about 1,200 crashes or so in the North Carolina area, including at least six deaths. A Good Samaritan was killed, police say, when he was shot by the stranded motorist he was trying to help allegedly under the influence. Travel here is a nightmare. American airlines is expected to resume flights in the area. The area is preparing for the huge Football Game hosted here by the carolina panthers. Yesterday, they practiced in the snow. A major pep rally was canceled. The team says they are ready for tomorrow. Today, workers will take the tarp off the field to be able to dry it out in time for the big game. A bit more sleet is also expected here in North Carolina throughout the morning. It is expected to move out later today. Guys, back to you. Gabe gutierrez this morning. Gabe, thank you. It is not just massive winds that have people worried. For many along the coast, the storm surge that brings flooding could cause problems this weekend. We have nbcs rehema ellis along the coast with more on that. Good morning. Reporter good morning, jose. It is a tough morning out here. We had winds gusts above 50 miles an hour. Im holding on so i can stay on the air. There is a real concern about what could happen here. During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, this building where i am right now, was torn apart during the storm. The city around the coastal area, they spent the last couple days with bulldozers pushing as much sand as they could up against to protect the areas and water coming from the atlantic ocean. They are not so worried about the inches of snow they will get. They are worried about the water it is to my left right now and it is brutal. Atlantic ocean, you can i can barely hold my position here because the wind is that strong coming off the ocean. No one is out and about. They are heeding the warnings. Stay inside and just hunker down. Thank you very much. That satellite uplink is difficult because the winds are so strong. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was supposed to be on the campaign trail this weekend. He returned to his home state to help his residents. He joins us now. Governor, good to have you here with us. Im not sure you could see rehema ellis. She is on the coast of new jersey. Where is your focus this morning, governor . Is it the coastal area . It is not more than any other part of the state. We do not expect major flooding on the coast. Which is fairly typical for storm events on the coast in new jersey. At least as of now, were not expecting any type of major flooding incidents along the coast. They will be a bit better off from the snow perspective as rehema mentioned in her report. In the other parts of the state, we have heavier snow than we thought we were, 6 to 18 inches in the north. Up to 2 feet in central and inland and southern part of the state. As you well know, there was a fair amount of criticism in timing of leaving the campaign trail in New Hampshire to return home to new jersey. How do you answer those critics . I dont know why they would be critical. I was here last night before the first snow flake dropped. So i dont understand any basis for criticism. My view was i wanted the best to whether my presence was needed here. Once i got the final forecast at the decision at 11 30 to be home. Despite the fact flights were canceled. I drove from New Hampshire back to new jersey. I was home last night before 8 00 p. M. I know you have been advising folks to stay home. You talked about the revised snow totals. When will it be safe for folks to be out again in your este estimation estimation. I think tomorrow. I think today and tonight, this should be expected as an inside day for them. We are doing well in keeping the roads passable for the emergency vehicles. Up in the north, we have mostly wet roads with traffic moving freely. All the roadways are passable. 35mileanhour restriction on the roads like the new jersey turnpike and garden state parkway. Our department of transportation equipment out there right now spreading salt and sand and moving snow off the roadways. You know, right now, we feel like we are doing well from that perspective. We have about 17,000 Power Outages so far across state. Most of those focused in a southern part of the state. About 15,000 being in cape may county. We know you are a busy man today. We appreciate you taking time for us. Thank you. Thank you very much. The snow is falling quickly in philadelphia as well. That city is expected to see 2 feet when it is all said and done. Nbcs jacob rascon is in philly with more. Jacob, good morning. Reporter jose, good morning. We were thinking 1. 5 feet, but now as you said, up to 2 feet of snow expected. The snow has been falling 2 to 3 inches an hour in some areas. They are blizzard conditions. Sustained winds above 30 miles an hour with gusts well above 40. Stop all day. There is a blizzard warning and winter storm warning in effect here and in the surrounding areas through tomorrow morning at 3 00 a. M. Of course, the airport is closed and saying there are no flights in or out of the airport. All day at this airport and three other airports as well. As you can tell, the wind is pretty bad. It is miserable out here. The problem is the plows are trying to plow all of the roads, but they cant get done with the primary roads because they go and as soon as they are done with one, they have to turn around and do it again because of the wind. They have not gotten to the secondary roads. They are advising nobody be out and driving today in philadelphia. Jose. Jacob rascon, thank you. If you had a trip planned this weekend and did not get out ahead of the storm, you are staying put. 6,000 flights canceled. Several airports shutdown. All back up and running. Nbcs Kristen Dahlgren is at a quiet laguardia airport. Reporter good morning, erica. This is something you dont see all the time. A virtual empty laguardia. There are a couple dozen passengers at the food court. They did not get the texts or memos that the flights were canceled. They are here trying to figure out what to do. Whether to get a hotel or sleep here for the next day. Trying to figure out when they can get out. It is a mess nationwide. Take a look. More than 4,100 cancellations nationwide. The worst airports in new york. Topping the list at jfk. At laguardia, 254. Security is shutdown here. No flights getting in or out. Also philadelphia, as jacob tough day. It is not just those airports, we are seeing the misery across country. Ft. Lauderdale and miami with cancellations because of the storm. It is all interconnected and if you have cancellations here, those flights are not here and aircraft is not getting to the right place. Difficult day of travel in the nation. Kristen, thank you. And we will have your flight canceled as well. I had my flight to miami tomorrow canceled yesterday. They texted and said dont bother come together airport. You should come over for dinner. We will have much more on the blizzard throughout the morning. We want to get to other news. In politics, nine days to go to the caucuses in iowa. Candidates are sharpening attacks as they work to getting a high voter turnout. Nbcs Kristen Welker is at the airport. Reporter jose, good morning to you. Force despite the weather making their closing arguments with the voters about to weigh in. I approve this message. Reporter the two gop frontrunners battling it out on the air waves. Over immigration. Sounded like you wanted the bill to pass. To pass. Paint trump as establishment. Trump and cruz will court voters in iowa today with the bitter fight dividing the party. The conservative Magazine National review released its against trump issue. Rebuke of the businessman. We are making an argument that donald trump has not been with conservatives, he wont be with conservatives. Reporter some have warmed to trump fearing cruz is more divisive. 2016 is fast becoming a race word, even for democrats. Bernie sanders surging, painting himself as an outsider. I want to say a word on the issue that secretary clinton and i disagree on. That is the incredible power of wall street. Reporter and Hillary Clinton trying to show she is the most qualified candidate. We need a president who can do all aspects of the job. Reporter the question now . Just how strong is the antiestablishment surge . This is a good year to be an insurgent. You hear many on both sides saying i support, fill in the blank, because nobody else says it like that. He says the truth. He is telling it like it is. Reporter last night, donald trump sounded off on jeb bush for putting his mom in the campaign ad. Tweeting, quote, jeb desperately needed mommy to help him. Isis or putin. A video trying to help people find caucus locations was released by his campaign. Jose and erica, back to you. Kristen, thank you. Where was donald trump when i was in high school . He is available now. Al is back with a look of the rest of the countrys forecast. There are people who are not dealing with snow today . There are. In the mid section of the country. Look at this. Pacific northwest, you have rain and snow. Out here in the northeast, you can see that giant swirl of clouds still taking over. So for today, again, middle of the country, nothing going on. We heard about thunder snow in baltimore. This is a big factor. Then we have wet weather from Central California all the way into the Pacific Northwest with snow. Of course, you got this out there today. Hey, guys thats whats going on around the country. And dont forget rokerthon blizzard2016 starting al, thank you. Oscars. What the academy will now be doing to tackle diversity. And conversation with figure skater gracie gold and her sister carly. They are set up for a sibling rivalry that you have never seen but first this is today on still to come on this snowy saturday on today some of the top vines in the short history. And we are keeping our eye on the blizzard of 2016 as the we are back on the saturday morning, january 23rd, 2016. This is a live look for you coming from the streets of washington, d. C. Dylan dreyer not at the desk with us this morning because shes in the blue mobile. The snow is coming down hard. It is rough on the roads. Outside of studio 1a, the snow is falling quickly out there. That does not stop. That looks thrown, by the way. I think it is tripled in size. They get extra medals today. Buchon bakery. Time this morning. We are keeping a close eye on the blizzard of 2016. Studio. Our team is spread out up and morning. The snow has only been falling in new york city for what nine hours now, it has been washington, d. C. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer is in the Nations Capital. Miguel, good morning. Reporter jose, good morning. It is definitely a nasty conditions out here. The promising punch is delivered and we have already seen 13 inches of snow in the Nations Capital. We are expecting more. Behind me what you should be seeing is the state capitol. Instead, it is fog and snow back there. It is coming in sideways and sloppy and continue for the next four hours. Our hotel is a few blocks away from here. This location. Cars are not able to go up and down the streets. They are working as hard as they can to plow the main intersections. Jose, we have not seen many people on the roads today. They are concerned the mayor has issued a state of emergency here. She spoke to us earlier. She said this is a potentially life threatening storm. Calls have doubled in the call center. Many people are staying in their homes and heeding the warnings here. Every flight out of local airports seem to be canceled or delayed. That nightmare will continue for the next couple days as we see the ripple effect. The mayor says you should stay in your homes for the next 36 hours because the snowfall here is steady and it certainly not letting up anytime soon, jose. Miguel, thank you. For the next 36 hours. The pronunciation of miguels name. You have more where that came from . We do. We will plug your 18 shows later. Lets get to dylan because we dont want to lose her shot from the blue mobile. She is making her way from washington back up here to new york. Your heading north on i95. Is it is a snails pace . How are the roads . Reporter you know we were right in downtown where the live shot was this morning, the roads havent been touched. We are on new york avenue. This will turn into u. S. 50 and take us to i95. The main roads have been plowed. Right now. It is almost like the snow gives you more traction than if we had a layer of ice. Washington, d. C. We never had that layer of ice. There is some traction. I want to point out one of the seemingly most dangers ous things i have seen is a lot of people the sidewalks have not been cleared. People show up out of nowhere and with the visibility reduced, this is dangerous. If you are walking around, make sure you know the drivers can see you. That makes it dangerous. We saw a tweet at 4 00 this morning that said the intersection between 495 and 95 about five miles from where we are was completely impassable. I hope the plows have gotten through that point right now and we see the roads open up a bit. Once we get on the major highway, we will check in with you. Hopefully nobody sells on else is on the roads. We will check in with you. Dylan, you could bypass if you took the bw parkway and you could catch up with 95 there. In case that is not possible. A real difficult situation for a lot of the roads. Reporter okay. The winds also. Get rougher. Laguardia right now reporting snowfall rates at 3 inches per hour. So we are just getting warmed up with this, unfortunately. You can see the reason why we had to up the amounts is the storm has actually tracked a little further north. Here is what we are looking at through tomorrow. This is the latest we have. Washington, d. C. And baltimore area, basically heavy snow continuing this morning. Wind gusts to 50 Miles Per Hour. Snowfall, 24 inches. Maybe more than that. Top three snowstorms, over 100 years ago almost, 28 inches. We will come close to that for washington, d. C. Now you get to new york city and surrounding areas. 18 to 24 inches of snow. Heavy snow continues into the afternoon and evening. Winds gusting to 55. We are probably going to see blizzard like conditions. 23. 9 inches in 2006. We come very close, i think. Gusts. 60 to 70 Miles Per Hour. The high tides. We will have coastal beach erosion and flooding. Thats whats going on aroun thats your latest weather. Jose. Thank you, al. Just ahead, forget the storm outside. We will tell you about a dating storm that is happening inside this weekend. Its pretty hot. Find someone to snuggle up with. The weeks biggest stories and a look at not yet. Not yet pull the peach advil pain relievers are used by more households than any other leading brand. To treat their aches and pains more people reach for advil. Relief doesnt get any better than this. Advil. Brandon thinks best foods thats because our farmers committed to responsibly sourced oils. Blended with ingredients like cagefree eggs. Mmm. Heaven. Real ingredients. Thats how were back now on a saturday morning with the download. The chance to catch you up on the biggest stories. Sheinelle. Snow aside, a lot of stories throughout the weekend. From Donald Trumps endorsement to the cdc warning of the zika virus. We start with the fears over the stock market. Nightmare on wall street. Plunges for the dow with oil prices plummeting and the chinese economy stalling. More price declines to come. Even so, experts say dont panic. You have to look at your plan. There is a huge opportunity here. Sarah palin back in the spotlight endorsing donald trump. And go kick isis ass. Slamming president obama will defending her son track. Iraq war veteran charged with Domestic Violence against his girlfriend. My son like so many others come back a bit different. They come back hardened. The question that comes from our own president where they have to look at him and wonder, do you know what we go through . Outrage over the ongoing water crisis in flint, michigan. Im sorry most of all that i let you down. Sorrys not going to bring us fresh water every day. Its a problem that has been building for yearly two years. Doctors discovering an alarming amount of lead in childrens blood. The cdc is urging doctors to monitor pregnant patients or those hoping to become pregnant if they traveled to zika virus hot spots. Bite from an infected mosquito. It can cause micrephaly. Did Vladimir Putin approve the murder of a spy litinvenko . The london assassins poisoned tea. His widow said putin is guilty of nuclear terrorism. A call to boycott the oscars is gaining momentum. At this current time, were uncomfortable to stand there and say this is okay. Academy is meeting next week and consider increasing best picture nominations to ten. Gracing the cover of vogue in new york . The very attractive people. How do you feel about brooklyn . Cure. And check out our all access behind the scenes look at Jennifer Lopez debuts his las vegas residency. Hoda putting jlos team to work. I love hoda. Up next, the massive Engagement Ring im going to share a photo of my eggo waffle when it pops up. Thats so interesting honey because im going to share a photo of my eggo waffle when it pops up. Leggo my eggo leggo my eggo answering machine hey leave a message. Hi, i know youre there, cause i can see you. Im calling you to tell anncr some things are too delicious to share. Golden crispy, warm and fluffy eggo waffles. Leggo my eggo. My dad gave me those shares, you know. He ran that company. I get it. But you know i think you own too much. Gotta manage your risk. An honest opinion is how edward jones makes sense of investing. Across america, people. Are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes. With noninsulin victoza. P for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar. T but it didnt get me to my goal. So i asked my doctor about victoza. He said victoza works differently than pills. And comes in a pen. Victoza its taken once a day, any time. Victoza is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. Victoza is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults. With type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. It is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people. With type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Victoza has. R. Not been studied with mealtime insulin. Victoza is not insulin. Do not take victoza if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer. Multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza. Or any of its ingredients. P symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include itching. Rash, or difficulty breathing. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Serious side effects may happen in people who take victoza , including. Inflammation of the pancreas your doctor right away. If you have signs of pancreatitis, such as severe pain that will not go away. In your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back, with or without vomiting. P tell your doctor about all the medicines you take tand if you have any medical conditions. Taking victoza with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. The most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. Side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. If your pill isnt giving you the control you need. Ask your doctor about. Noninsulin victoza. Its covered by most health plans. Back now on a saturday morning. With your trending. And no surprise, trending this morning, not just all the snow, while it falls. According to the dating app hinge, they are on the hunt for the blizzard boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe blizzard friend. Actually data to back this up. Last year, hinge found leading up to winter storm juno spiked 27 on the day of the storm. What does activity mean . They also found the average user logged in five times each day. Binge watching will be up this weekend. Lists have been popping up all over the place with mustwatched shows for the blizzard. The one that is on most of those, making a murderer. You know, in october, we will spend a lot of time in maternity wards. That is exactly right. There is activity happy happening now. Anniversary. The new way to share videos in six seconds or less. The most looped vines from 2015 are sure to give you a laugh. Yeah wow i have avocado. Great. Is that it . I think we do. Videos. The kid that got hit. And mariah carey is now rocking a big rock. Start. We told you yesterday that mariah carey said yes to billionaire james packer. We now have the ring. That ring, by the way, costs 7. 5 million. So this morning, we will put this in perspective. Kim kardashians Engagement Ring, 15 carats. Beyonces is 18 carats. The only thing slightly bigger than mariahs ring is the hope diamond. We could have rings, earrings. Congratulations are in order for one direction crew member as he welcomes a baby boy. There is no word from him yet, but he will have plenty of time to dote on his baby. Twitter. And then there were four. Introducing elias buble. Babies and rings. The rings are bigger than the babies. Bigger than the heads. Still to come, one step you can take today to help protect but first this is today on and still to come this morning, we will have the latest from up and down the east coast as that storm makes its way through tens of millions of people. We will also check in with dylan driving along i95. And two sisters with olympic dreams, but forget about the they welcome aboard my starship. Ahoy, mateys its full of things i love. And free of things i dont. Just like chex cereal. Its full of stuff we pirates need. No artificial flavors, and its glutenfree. Eat up, me hearties keep it down arrrr. Now get 10 off 396 and more at lowes. Listen up im here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. And give her the strength and energy to stay healthy. Whos with me . the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. With 9 grams of protein. And 26 vitamins and minerals ensure. Take life in your body was made for Better Things than rheumatoid arthritis. Before you and your rheumatologist move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. Xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma, and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz if you have an infection. Or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. Your doctor should perform blood tests and monitor certain liver tests. Tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common, and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. R xeljanz can reduce r the symptoms of ra, p even without methotrexate. Rask your rheumatologist t about xeljanz. You get a cold. You cant breathe through your nose. Suddenly, youre a mouthbreather. A mouthbreather how can anyone sleep like that . Well, just put on a breathe right strip and pow it instantly opens your nose up to 38 more than Cold Medicine alone. So you can breathe and sleep. Shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. Good morning. The blizzard of 2016. A huge storm powering up the east coast this weekend. A quarter of the u. S. Population in its path. A blizzard warning now for 33 million americans. Snow totals revised overnight. Now higher than first predicted. Already 1. 5 feet has fallen in some areas. Thousands stranded as traffic comes to a halt on major highways along the coast. Officials telling people to weather this storm inside. Stay off the roads if you at least ten People Killed in traffic accidents. A historic storm and the worst may still be to come. Today, saturday, january 23rd, 2016. Ice, ice baby ice, ice baby its not that bad outside now that the partys jumping good morning on the lovely snowy saturday. Welcome back to today on saturday morning. Its lovely. It turns out you are not the only one here from florida. We have hardy souls on the plaza. From florida. And phoenix as well. Good call to be here this weekend, guys. If we close our eyes, we can think were in south florida. It feels just like that. Some of the crowd is back here al is cleaning off the some of the crowd has made their way into the green room. A Trading Spaces moment for us. They are getting warm inside. I think they are. We see them in the window. It is opposite now. Our team is spread out along the coast because they are busy today. Monitoring the storm every step of the way. A lot of snow has already fallen. Still a lot more to come. Lets check in with dylan who is slowly and carefully making her way up i95 to get to new york. Dylan, good morning. How is it going . Reporter hey, it is a slow go. We first got on to 95 and 495, the beltway around washington, d. C. , that is when there was no activity of plows on the road whatsoever. It was just like driving through the snow ruts. Now we have cleared things out. Side of the road trying to get off at the on off ramps. Nothing compared to the height of the storm. Back in kentucky, yesterday, a 35mile back up on i75. There were no reported injuries, but the road was actually shutdown for a time. This is in east central kentucky. Things are starting to improve in that area right now as the roads are starting to get cleared out a bit. It was the case when the snow comes down so heavy in such a quick period of time when the cars are on the road, they get stuck and nowhere for them to go. We are slowly making our way on i95. We are in and out of really bad patches on the roads. To drive. It is a slow go. We will continue to keep on guys. We know you are being safe. Dylan, thanks. We will continue to check in with you throughout the day. Lets go inside with jose. Thank you, erica. Im still drying off. The snow began falling early on capital and has not let up since. Nbcs correspondent Miguel Almaguer is in the middle of the it all. Miguel, good morning. Reporter jose, good morning. We are expecting another foot of snow. We could see a storm of a generation if the forecast holds true and the steady pattern coming down. It is not letting up anytime soon. We are facing blizzard like conditions here and will continue to do so all the way through tonight into tomorrow where they start to dig out. Even after then, the city is bracing for problems. All of that steady snow is falling on rooftops and threaten homes and could bring down power lines. It has been quiet here in terms of emergency response. Most of the power in the area has stayed on. That could change over the next 24 hours. Thats what theyre concerned about. The airports are crippled. People are battering down the hatches here. We have not seen many people in the neighborhood here in the last 24 hours. Situation could get worse before it gets better. People are bracing for more to come. Jose. Miguel, thank you. The winds are picking up in several areas. A major concern for people who live along the coast and keeping a close eye on the storm surge. Nbcs rehema ellis is alongside the new jersey coast. Reporter jose, it really is windy. The winds are roaring and the sea is angry. The governor of new jersey is obviously we are having difficulty establishing that satellite link with rehema. Rehema, be careful. I know where she is exactly. I think she is in point please ant pleasant, i believe. That is rough. Lets show you how rough things are. We have reports that so far 3 inches of snow falling at laguardia so far and in manhattan as well. East of montauk and to connecticut and all the way back to fredericksburg. We are looking at snow. We will give you accumulations we got so far. Right now, new york, were talking about 3 inches of snow officially. We have 6. 5 at newark airport. Long island, 7. 1. Mt. Olive, new jersey, 7 inches of snow. It will get worse. Here is what we have through tomorrow. Baltimore, washington area, you will probably see 24 inches of more. The winds gusting up to 50 Miles Per Hour. Philadelphia, Central New Jersey and parts of eastern pennsylvania, 18 to 24 inches. Wind gusts of 40 Miles Per Hour. In new york city and surrounding area, the heavy snow in afternoon and early evening. New england and new haven and providence, we are talking 8 to 12 inches of snow. Boston may pick up about 2 to 4 inches. We had to up these amounts because the storm has moved further north. Yesterday, we thought boston almost nothing. They may get 4. New york, 6 to 12. Now up to 24 inches. Amazing. Thanks, al. We have other news to get to sheinelle is following a Horrific School shooting in canada. A small canada town is in mourning after the countrys worst in a decade. Four people dead after a gunman opened fire in a remote town in central canada. Are victims. Students scattered as the gunman began. The sun gunman shot two of his to the school. Tourists watching the show at the Bellagio Hotel last night the middle of gunfire with shots caught on tape. Police cars converge with a man waving a firearm at the crowd closing off parts of the vegas strip. The suspect refused to drop the weapon and the Office Opened fire. Officers wrestled the suspect to the ground. Packaged salads recalled after an outbreak of listeria. It comes from the dole Processing Plant in springfield, ohio. One person has died and a dozen illnesses have been reported. The package salads are sold under several different names and in 27 states. They are identified at the a in the manufacturing code. The controversy of lack of diversity has lead to rules changes. Sweeping changes in voting and doubling the number of women and amongst the changes, to replace the inactive lifetime members with more active members. The move following rising protests by Academy Members by an allwhite selection of nominees in the acting categories. A new ball game in space. Look at this. It is ping pong on the space station played by astronaut mark kelly. You dont need a ping pong ball. You need a drop of water. The paddles help the liquid and zero gravity will keep the drop bouncing back and forth and back and forth. Isnt that cool . Man. That is something you see when you are a kid and you want to go to space. And the water goes everywhere. It explodes. Very cool. Another check of the countrys forecast. Thats right. I was checking commander kellys twitter. He has a great shot of the storm from space. Its pretty cool. Have the storm here in the northeast. We have a lot of wet weather in the Pacific Northwest. In between, things quiet. Thats good news. Temperatures really mild for this time of year up in minnesota. 25 degrees and sunshine. Here is the storm system making its way to the northeast coast. Northern Central California into the Pacific Northwest, rain, and snow in has the picture of mark kellys picture. You can see back to the east. Thats the storm. We will cover this blizzard on rokerthon blizzard2016 on nbcnews. Com. We will have a break for nbc nightly news. Sheinelle is over in the orange room now. I am. If i had a trophy, i would give each one of you a today show trophy for being here in this weather. Where are you from . Outer banks of North Carolina. You have never been in a blizzard . This is your first blizzard . A lot of hurricanes, al, but no blizzards. Thank you. You know, ill let you take it away. Still to come on today, twins in life and now competitors on the ice. Conversations with gracie and carly gold. But first these messages. We take away your stuffy nose. You keep the peace. We calm your congestion and pain. You rally the team. We give you relief from your cough. Giggles. Tylenol cold helps relieve even your worst cold flu symptoms. So you can give them everything youve got. Tylenol 3, 2, 1 smile alright. Big smile smile hey, honey howd it go . Thanks, dad theres my smile the happy meal. California grown cuties. With ingredients like roasted hazelnuts and cocoa, takes pancakes to a whole new level. Make any day a pancake day with nutella spread the happy to the couple wondering what a good deal looks like. No. Seriously . Well give it a 6 for composition. Scary. Wow, what about just putting a fair, no haggle price on the window . Not zany enough . Sometimes the best deals are pretty plain to see. 73 of americans try. To cook healthy meals. Yet up to 90 fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. Lets do more. Add one a day mens 50 . Complete with key nutrients we may need. Plus it helps support healthy with vitamin d and magnesium. If youre looking to save money on your Medicare Part d prescriptions, walgreens says, carpe med diem. Seize the day to get more out of life and Medicare Part d. Just switch to walgreens for savings thatll be the highlight of your day. Now preview the cost of your copay before you fill. You can even get onedollar copays on select plans. Back now on a saturday later today, gracie and carly gold will compete for the same title on the ice. You remember gracie from the 2014 olympic games, but her sister is a skater as well. We have Janet Shamlian in st. Paul, minnesota with more. Reporter jose, good morning. A new ladies figure skating champion will be crowned tonight in st. Paul. Two of the leading skaters have been roommates since birth and tonight they are cheering for each other. Triple lutz. Reporter a dazzling star in figure skating. Gracie gold. Like a fairy tale. Reporter in the gold family, its not just gracies dreams this year. Im awesome. So excited. Reporter among the elite skaters vying for the title, gracies sister carly. Just qualifying for nationals is just above my wildest expectations. Reporter the 20yearolds train on the same ice. Both under coach frank carroll. Life long roommates and best friends, but differences in more than appearance. Carly an equestrian. I learned to skate through the isi. Carly just jumped in. Because it was fun. Reporter now more than fun. Reporter from thousands of competitive skaters, only 22 make the cut to skate for the ladies title. Nbc sports panelists tara lipinski. Reporter carly missed one jump in the short program, but otherwise, skated clean. This has been the most surreal experience and it is going by quickly. Reporter gracie missed a jump too. Well in consideration for the title. I dont consider it sharing my spotlight. She has her own. Reporter sisters turned competitors. Each in pursuit of their own definition of gold. In the ultra competitive world of figure skating where thousands of women compete and make it to the national stage, it is spectacular that both gold sisters make the finals. They will be broadcast live tonight on nbc. Thank you, janet. If you are on the east coast, another reason to stay inside tonight. You can watch the figure skating championships as janet mentioned eastern and noon pacific. And coming up, easy things you can do today to help you save time and money this week. Im going to stand by you even if we were back on a saturday morning with our start today series helping you get the start on the week. There are a lot of easy things to do today to help you get a handle on the week ahead. Our experts have you covered. Get a head start. Get a head start. Get a head start today. Today. Today. Today. A perfect assignment is to go through your kitchen cabinets. First of all, check what is expired. I had flour and soupy think from 2013. Im sure you have that too. See all of the vases and plates. I probably got rid of 2 finding balance between being a mom, work, and being a wife can be very difficult for me. The most important thing you can do for yourself is to take care of yourself. Write in your journal, read, take a bubble bath. Use your weekends to refresh. Maybe even a date night. If something happened to you, would the important people in your life know what to do . Would they know who to call, how to access your online accounts . I want you to work on something called a letter of instruction and suggestion. Its not a legal document. Its just a roadmap telling the important people in your life what steps to follow in the event of an emergency. Protecting your financial life, but this is step one. Im going to show you the simplest trick to dramatically slash the calories and the sodium in your favorite bottled dressings. First up, vinaigrette. This is balsamic vinaigrette. Youre going to put a little in a mason jar, then dilute it with low calorie, low sodium, straight balsamic vinegar. Shake it up. Next up, ranch dressing. Pour your favorite ranch right into that mason jar, and dilute buttermilk. Downeraleries and sodium. There you go. Your service. Those are our tips. Those are our tips. Those are our tips. Today. Today. And you can see more tips all week here on today. That does it for us this saturday morning. Dylan, stay safe out there. We will be keeping you post on the weather all day long. Dont forget, rokerthon is happening all day on nbcnews. Com. And tonight, the latest on nbc nightly news. See you back here tomorrow. Have a great day. New Nature Valley cereal. Mmm. Lightly sweetened baked oat bites. Thanks, mom. Really . Nature valley cereal. New at walmart. The citi double cash card comes in very handy with cash back twice on purchases. Earn once when you buy, and again as you pay. Thats cash back now, and cash back again later. Its cash back d\j vu. The citi double cash card. The only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. 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The best part of wakin up so, where do you want to start . I think this is a pretty good place