wonderland in new york city. it is 6:00 in the morning on this monday, two days after christmas. the white christmas came a day late actually yesterday as this blizzard blew through the northeast. we've seen the worst of the snow here in new york city over these live pictures. that's times square right outside our building here at rockefeller plaza. now it's moving up north, hammering boston. we're going to get live reports from up and down the coast. i'm willie geist. it's great to be back with you. joe and mika have the week off. i'll be here all week. this morning we're talking is a little while about snow. winter storm warnings up and down the east coast. still one in effect here in new york city until noon. really the story now is up in the boston area where the snow is still dumping. the mayer and governor deval patrick of massachusetts asking people just stay home. thousands of flight cancellations have stranded people this holiday weekend. the newark airports closed until noon. that's backing things up across the country. let's go right now where the story is to the boston area where we find the weather channel's mike seidel. mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, willie. the snow and wind continue up here in the boston suburbs. we've had about a foot of snow across the area except on the cape out there. temperatures this morning around 40. the center of the storm as bill will show you in a minute over radar is coming over nantucket. they had wind gusts last night miles an hour. minor damage out there. here inland it's snowing and blowing. this is route 9. you can see how much snow they have piled up on the side of the road here. the plows have done a great job of going back and forth. wind right now is in a bit of a lull but still getting widespread gusts reported 30 to 40 miles per hour. a car here and there but mostly the sound of snow plows this morning in these areas. we have that blizzard warning until noon in boston, until 5:00 in portland, maine. three to five inches more here. five to eight more in portland. amtrak still shut down between new york and boston. they'll assess that situation and the rails this morning. logan airport officially is open. but as you well know, if there are no planes, you can't fly anywhere. so it's a wait and see there. even once the snow tapers off we'll have strong gusty winds across all of the northeast today. adding insult to injury blowing and drifting the snow around. still breezy tomorrow but the sun comes out and things will start to get back to normal. fortunately, it's a holiday week, so a lot of things -- schools are closed and the normal morning rush hour would be a little bit more low key than on a typical weekday. with that said, a lot of closings up here today. people are just going to make it, what is that a four-day weekend. not too shabby. >> that's what they're saying. everybody stay home. let's turn now for more on the storm to our man bill karins. i heard you say earlier this morning you've never seen anything like this. >> i will equate this today super storm of march of '96. in weather terms that's the biggest storm go up and down the eastern seaboard. the storm. this one didn't affect everyone. a lot of people got hit from it. it wasn't really an historic storm until you got to about philadelphia northwards. you notice the bottom of our snowfall totals. everyone in baltimore and washington, d.c. is saying what big deal? we got a half inch or inch of snow and cold and windy. it didn't blow up until off the delaware coast. the snowfall totals most impressive in between philadelphia and new york city. numerous reports near newark airport of at least 20 inches. i've heard some reports as high as 26. so we're talking some areas that are trying to get their way around two feet of snow. not that you could measure it because it's so windy, the drifts are over the tops of cars and your neighbor's yard could be bare. all of that snow could blow in your yard. by far the worst is over. now light snow and snow bands continuing through massachusetts back through areas of the berkshires. additional snowfall accumulations, vermont, new hampshire and maine could pick up another foot from this. it's really their storm to deal with now. we're more or less starting to deal with the clean-up in new york city and long island where just light snow currently. we have gotten a foot snows before so that's not the story. it's the wind. it's making it an historic storm. as far as the winds, gusting in new york up to 40 miles per hour. jfk had a gust of 48. we've seen the winds as strong as 80 miles per hour, hurricane gust over cape codover night. currently 43 in philly and 41 in d.c. strong northwest winds on the back side. boston now has a wind gust of 43. that means windchills in the single digits. that's why unfortunately there's no real kids in school but they can't go out and play in it because the windchill is in the single digits and the snow is so high and blowing so fierce it's not a fun morning out there. we don't want to leave everyone else out. it's 11 windchill in atlanta and down in florida it's going to be 20s in orlando again. so it's the snofrm philly northwards but the east coast is feeling the wrath. >> a white christmas in atlanta, first time since the 1880s. columbia, south carolina, snowing on christmas. you don't see it. let's talk travel for a minute here. we know the three new york airports closed until noon today. they're going to open up -- >> i don't see how they will do it by noon. i know they say that. but the way the wind is blowing. they plow it and it goes. i can't see -- it may be 5:00 p.m. you have to put two fetal of snow and get that out of way, plus get the planes shoveled oit and the wind will be howling. good luck. >> even if they do get those open, there's such a backlog of air traffic that they have to get all through that. probably looking at tomorrow until you're at full capacity. >> and tomorrow should be 40 and sunny in new york city. so if you can wait, wait. >> tomorrow is the day. how about the boston area? what's travel looking like up there? >> boston a little worse. they'll stay windy a little longer. in the boston area and hoping to do your travel, really it's mostly a tuesday thing. there's a lot of cars stranded. numerous reports of a lot of highways with vehicles stuck. they have to get to them, get the people out, get the cars towed and plow the roads. i can't imagine anywhere new york city northwards -- it's not going to be until tomorrow. >> governor patrick in massachusetts said stay off the roads and we'll get it cleaned up and back in business on tuesday. so if you can, stay home. >> give you have updates. >> obviously checking back with you throughout the morning. there is some breaking news this morning. reuters news reporting that suspected explosive packages have been found at a number of embassies in rome today, just days after mail bombs claimed by an italian anarchist group wounded two people at the swiss and chilean missions. according to the associated press suspicious packages have been found at the venezuelan and monaco embassies. those were a false alarm. but a package at the greek embassy has been confirmed as a bomb. since last week's attacks there have been false alarms at the irish and ukrainian missions in rome as they stepped up mail deliveries but they say the one at the greek embassy is some form of a letter bomb. elsewhere, nbc news reporting that a car bomb has exploded in the southern city of kandahar in afghanistan this morning, killing one civilian and injuring more than a dozen others. the car exploded near a police compound and a local bank in the crowded center of the city. this year has been the deadliest of the nearly ten-year war for foreign troops with 697 killed just so far in 2010. that is according to an associated press count. we'll keep you updated on the damage there in afghanistan. here at home, homeland security secretary janet napolitano has been defending the use of full-body scanners and invasive pat-downs at the nation's airports where so many people are stranded today. in an interview yesterday with cnn she said the security measures will remain in place for now. >> it's been about six weeks maybe since we noticed the enhanced pat-downs. what have you learned since then about what works and doesn't work? has anything changed? >> not for the foreseeable future. we're always looking to improve systems and so forth. but the new technology, the pat-downs, just objectively safer for our traveling public. >> as you'll remember a few weeks ago, many travelers expressed concern about being subjected to the intimate pat-downs. napolitano said safety is the country's number one priority. the secretary also defended the recent gaffe by national intelligence director james clapper who didn't know about a roundup of terror suspects in the uk when asked during a tv interview last week. a week after the predaunl police raids across england, nine men will appear in a london court today on terrorism charges. they're charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion between october and november of this year. they are also charged with involvement in the preparation of an attack after allegedly downloading and researching methods and materials and scouting potential targets. three other suspects arrested during last week's sweep have been released without charges. white house press secretary robert gibbs says the guantanamo bay military prison is not going to should down any time soon. in an interview yesterday, nearly a year after the obama administration's self-imposed deadline to close that facility, gibbs admitted the president has run into several legislative roadblocks. >> we are a month away from being a year late in closing down guantanamo bay prison. when is that prison going to close? >> i don't -- certainly not the next month. i think it's probably going to be a while before that prison closes. >> a year? >> i think part of this depends on the republicans' willingness to work with the administration on this. >> gibbs also admitted that the president has served as a rallying cause for islamic terrorists around the world and seemed to acknowledge a recent report that the white house will issue an executive order for some detainees to be held indefinitely without trial. it's been a key issue for members of his liberal base but it's not going to happen for some time. much more on the major storm that's heading up the east coast and whipped through the new york area late last night and overnight, now making a charge up into maine and the boston area. but up next, a look back at some of morning joe's biggest interviews of 2010 including our sit-down with president bill clinton. and the jets clinched a playoff spot but kind of backed into it. they lost and made the playoffs. we'll tell you how that happened when "morning joe" comes right back. so, during sign then drive i can get a cc for just my signature? 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[ male announcer ] it's amazing what you can do with a pen. sign then drive is back. for a limited time get any 2011 volkswagen for practically just your signature. executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. welcome back to "morning joe." it's 6:15 in the morning. that's a live picture of philadelphia. as you can see, a lot of snow is dumped. in fact, they canceled last night's philadelphia eagles game and moved it to tuesday night out of concern for the fans. more on that and update on the storm in a few minutes. morning papers. "the boston globe" where the storm is now. it's all anybody is talking about there. the major storm barreling through the area this morning. early winter wallop. how about "the tennessean." the 101st airborne has lost 104 soldiers in 2010, making it the unit's second deadliest combat since vietnam. "usa today" good news for everyone who has christmas presents they don't like. retail he recalls loosening return policies and dropping restocking fees this holiday season. time for the "morning joe" rewind. our interviews with some of the biggest names from 2010. we begin with an interview joe and mika did sitting down with former president bill clinton at the clinton global initiative to discuss his charitable work and his thoughts on this year's politics. >> it's just remarkable. it is remarkable how much this initiative has grown. you've got to be thrilled. >> i am. this is the biggest one we've ever had. i was quite surprised. i didn't know. last year when we had it, we were bottoming out in economic downturn. but we had a good year. and this year we have 100 more people who actually paid to come and to give. >> it is recession-proof. you are encouraging people in the worst of economic times to remember those overseas. >> and here. >> and here. >> and here at home. i asked all of our members to take another look about what we could do in other countries and in america to target a lot of these commitments they make to creating jobs and opportunity. and a lot of them have. it's been interesting. >> could you break it down? because people hear so much about cgi. they know what's going on in new york but could you break it down for people across america? >> yeah. >> what's the big idea? what does this initiative do that other initiative don't? >> the big idea is that there's been an explosion of an old, old american idea that there's always a limit to what the private sector can produce and the government can provide. and in that gap, citizens should take action to try to heal the breaches in our society, in america and around the world. also, if you are not -- if you don't have to produce a profit for shareholders tomorrow and you're not bound by all the government rules, you can take some chances to try to do things faster, cheaper, better. and if you're really good, then the model can -- you can either partner with the private sector or partner with the government or hand it off. so we -- this all started in america before the constitution was ratified, when benjamin franklin organized the first volunteer fire department in philadelphia. now, fast forward 200 years. all these intelligent and sometimes wealthy people representing successful businesses, they meet around the world and they have these talk fests and talk about all these problems. nobody ever asks anybody to do anything. so we said why don't we meet at the opening of the u.n. and get the world leaders to come. we'll invite people from poor countries who can't afford to come and places in america who can't afford to come. we'll pay their way. everybody will come and all commit to do something. this is not a left/right thing. this is right/wrong. does it work -- >> mika, how great, no formula. >> i think the formula you described bringing people to both sides could apply beyond the clinton global initiative. >> absolutely. >> could apply in washington. >> i think so too. i think that what we ought to talk about -- i urged my fellow democrats to tell the american people that the country wasn't back to work, nobody was happy. but according to all the numbers, the recession bottomed out and it was job time, show time. so the only real issue in this election should be what is each party going to offer to get the country moving again, which idea is most likely to work. i think that ought to be the debate. what are we going to do? who is more likely to do it? and i think -- i believe they should say, give us two more years to do this. it it if it doesn't work throw us all out. another election in two years. throw us out. we were in a deep hole, couldn't get going in time. i think we all ought to be willing to be judged by what or what does not empower other people. >> i talked to you about this before. we go out and give speeches across the country. and sometimes to progressive crowds and i always start with when i ran in '94, i couldn't stand bill clinton's image on tv and they'll all rustle out there. i came up to washington, d.c., and i go through this. and then as i explain the story away. he didn't really like us that much either. but look what we accomplished together. look what we -- we learned. i learned so much from those five years -- and they were tough, tough years for you and for hillary and for a lot of people. balance -- talking about this. we balanced the budget. four years -- for four years. first time that happened since the 1920s. reformed the welfare. created 22 million new jobs. and those were two sides that didn't exactly love each other. could you explain to washington, d.c., on both sides, how do you do that? how do you have rise above it? how did everybody learn to work together even if they fought each other like -- >> first of all, you have to know the difference between something that's real and something that's show. i remember one day senator lott, who was the republican senate -- on one of these sunday morning shows. and he called me a spoiled brat. something like that. and our -- one of our guys on the staff called and said do you know what trent lott said? i said, i said don't worry about that. he said, how can you say that? he's supposed to be working. i said let me tell you what happened. trent lott agreed to be on a sunday morning show before he thought about it. he was exhausted all weekend because we had been working long hours. he got up early in a bad mood and somebody goaded him and he took the bait. that's all. i called lott and he said, oh, my god, you're calling. i said i'm calling to tell you i've already forgotten about this. he said why. i said because you shouldn't have done this, you why too tired. woke up exhausted and somebody goaded you and you have took the bait. he said that's what happened. that's what happens when you know somebody as a person as well as a political opponent. when you cut people a little slack and you realize that doesn't have anything to do with the job. you just work on getting the job done. when we hung lott's portrait in the capitol, newt gingrich and i spoke for him and talked about the fights but then talked about what we achieved. that's what i think we have to do. we have to get back into -- we're all hired hands here. and we've got to -- it's a good thing to have a philosophy. if you look at the stuff we're debating here, i could give you a more conservative and a more liberal position about how to deliver health care in haiti or reset up the schools or promote economic growth. but in the end, what matters is half the kids have never been to school, do they go to school or not? they never had a health care system at all. will they have one? they don't have a government that functions. 17% of the government was killed on earthquake day. are they going to have one? and somehow we need to drive our political debate toward that. >> we seem to be losing ground. you brought up newt gingrich. i've talked to your wife and you and others about what i learned, that you can disagree without being disagreeable. i made a lot of mistakes in the 1990s. i think a lot of people did. but you brought up newt gingrich. here's a guy that should know better. and yet he's going out there comparing one of the great religions of the world to naziism. cathleen sebelius to stalin. it's really disappoin