On this fat tuesday, february 17th. Good morning, everybody, thanks for waking up with us. Im betty nguyen. Late last night a federal judge in texas temporarily blocked president obamas executive order on deportation. So the fate of 5 million undocumented immigrants is once again in limbo. The new ruling comes two days before the u. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was supposed to start accepting applications for the deferred action program. Now, with the injunction texas and 25 other states can sue the federal government to permanently stop the executive orders. In a statement, Texas Governor greg abbott praised the decision saying it quote, rightly stops the president s overreach in its tracks. This morning, the white house is firing back though calling the policies lawful and common sense. They say the depp of justice as previously indicated will appeal the decision. Now to this other blast of bitter cold. Over 250,000 are without power this morning and, yes, more snow is falling. Out east the carolinas will see sleet and dangerous freezing rain. The big bullseye is on places like virginia and washington, d. C. The possibility of up to 9 inches of snow. In d. C. An emergency is in effect a snow emergency. That means no school today. Federal offices are also closed. Late last night air force one landed in a snowy maryland. The president just back from a trip to palm springs, california, where im sure it was nice there. Snow hit virginia, theres this. Whoa a close call for an nbc news crew from wavy. An suv sliding out of control stops just inches from the tv crews live truck. Down south, they are digging out, in kentucky more than 8 inches of snow fell on monday. On snowslick roads, 3,000 tons of salt were used. And in arkansas a snowy, icy mess made travel just treacherous. Take you to West Virginia. Safety officials are investigating the cause of a fiery train derailment. You have to see the pictures here. The Freight Train was carrying crude oil. It derailed and exploded about 30 miles southeast of charleston. At least one train car plunged into a nearby river causing worry over contamination. Csx release a statement late last night, saying csx personnel and agencies are continuing their assessment to continue the number of car derailed and resulting oil loss. Nbcs tracie potts is live in washington following this story for us. Whats the latest in this investigation . Well betty its all about that snow you were talking about and the bitter cold were experienced here. Its part of the same system that swept through West Virginia. Investigators want to know if that caused the crash. It looked like a Winter Wonderland on fire. Did you get a picture of that . Reporter a 300foot fireball over West Virginia thick, black smoke blanketing two small towns. A thousand people were evacuated. Theyre in hotels and shelters this morning. When i went outside, one of the bigger explosives happened and by that time i was too eager to get into the car and be ready to get out of there. Reporter the csx train was carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil. It slammed into a house, several cars exploded. Were standing there on the riverbank when we saw the train explode or a car explode. Reporter one tanker landed in the river, causing concerns about contamination, oil leaking out, power went out. Officials shut down two water plants as a precaution. As for the fires, officials are letting them burn out. Amazingly, only one person was treated for smoke inhalation. No one else was injured. Now, the department of transportation is asking the white house to add about an eighth inch of steel to some of those older tankers, betty, because they want to make them thicker and safer. All right. Tracie, thank you so much for that report. We appreciate it. In the fight against isis revenge attacks are ramping up there are new reports that another 35 egyptians have been kidnapped in areas of libya controlled by isis and other islamic extremists. This comes one day after egypt launched an air strike in libya. That was in retaliation for the gruesome isis murders of 21 egyptian christians. Nshss chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell has more. Reporter 21 egyptian capitolic christians being paraded along the tripoli water front before being beheaded by isis terrorists in libya, even as the terror group threatened to kill more egyptians in libya. Among thousands of egyptian migrants unable to find jobs at him. Egypt scrambles f16s to retaliate. The first time its taken action against the isis group. Relatives of the slaughtered prisoners grieve. Italy, the last western power in tripoli evacuated its citizens and pope francis mourned the latest victims. He said theyre their only words were jesus helped me. They were killed simply for the fact this they were christians. In libya, gripped by civil war, isis is taking root. Theres only one message that comes from them which is convert to our ways do things our ways or were going to kill you. That was nbcs Andrea Mitchell reporting. An Arbitration Panel is ordered disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong to pay 10 million. This is the result of a fraud dispute with dallasbased company sba promotions. They gave armstrong 12 million in bonuses. It says armstrong engaged in an unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy for lying about using performanceenhancing drugs. It wanted some of the money back and now it looks like the company just may get it. A first in the american sniper murder trial. The video confession from accused killer Eddie Ray Routh was played in court. Heres nbcs jacob rascon. Reporter for several minutes, eddie ray mouth doesnt move. The jury hears the nearly hourlong recording, the media ordered no the to broadcast audio. When the questioning begins routh doesnt answer directly rambling about flying pigs and people feeding on his soul but then he confesses he shot chris kyle first, then quote, i knew if i did not take out his soul he was coming to take mine next. Routh describes the guns he used admits to stealing kyles truck and trying to escape. At least three times the investigator asks routh if he understands if what he did was wrong . Right, routh answers, yes, sir, he says later. At one point routh interrupts the interview asking about his parents, id like to see them at least hug my mom one last time, you know. Routh apologizes saying quote, im just sorry for what ive done you know and we can work this out. I guess i need to be doing more thanking in this town than hurting people. That was nbcs jacob rascon reporting. The music world lost a great singer songwriter. Its my party and ill cry if i want to cry if i want to cry if i want to you would cry too if it happened to you leslie gore topped the charts in 1963 at age 16 with its my party. Gore died monday at a new york city hospital. She reportedly had been battling lung cancer. Gore was more than just a onehit wonder. She sang you dont own me and sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. Lesscy gore was 68 years old. U. S. Labor secretary tom perez is in San Francisco this morning. Hell mediate a massive labor dispute threatening to cost the u. S. Economy an estimated 2 billion a day. The showdown between dock workers and shippers from Southern California to seattle has already upended supply chains. According to a new survey by Carnegie Mellon university of 1,000 drivers, 71 want a selfdriving car to automatically adjust to weather conditions. 60 want the car to park itself and baby boomers want to be able to read and relax without having to do anything at all. The massive cold and snow has one new york town temporarily giving up on attracting visitors. The visit ithaca website quickly shifts to a promo for the florida keys. It says quote, we surrender, winter, you win. Key west anyone . I dont blame them. To sports off the knicks bought out the remainder of ammarare stoudemires contract the allstar Power Forward is leaning towards signing with the dallas mavericks. Nascar driver kurt busch was slapped with a restraining order. It requires busch to stay at least 100 yards away from dress driscoll driscoll, her home and workplace. Nass consider says it would not take any action against busch based on the protection order. The yankees are returning uniform numbers of antidy pettitte, posada and another player. A marathoner crawled her way to the finish line. She led for most of the womens race. She was ahead before her body simply gave out about 50 yards short of completing the 26. 2mile run. She refused to quit and she still finished in third place. Congratulations to her. Wow. Well a shih tzu named rocket was chosen top toy dog on day one of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Her dog will be one of seven in the final ring tuesday night when best in show is chosen. Today, lets talk about this fat tuesday as mardi gras comes to a head tonight. Nbcs jay gray joins me now from the heart of it all. Were talking about the famous bourbon street in new orleans. It seems like it may be rainy today. Will that affect the festivities . I dont think so betty. Weve had rain here temperatures much cooler more mardi gras but nobody seems to notice. Take a look down bourbon street. I dont know if these folks are wraing up last nights party or getting an early start on the final day of mardi gras. Either way, there are still a ton of people out early in the morning along bourbon street. Good news for this city. This is one of their most important economic drivers. We know of the 30,000 plus hotel rooms in new orleans 95 of those are booked. Mardi gras annually brings in about a billion, with a b, dollars in spending. They want to make sure they get it right regardless of the weather. To this point it looks like thats happening. The concern about the rain has some of the parades rolling a bit early. They did last night, they will this morning zulu and rex, the biggest, starting at 8 00 and 10 00 respectively. After that the party starts in the French Quarter or should i say continues. It doesnt look like anyone goes to sleep during mardi gras. No. A new poll reveals who americans believe is our greatest enemy. That is next. First, check out the scene in mayville mississippi. A 92yearold driver turned the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly into what looked like was a demolition derby. The man wont face charges but the dmv will review his driving record. 13 minutes past the hour. Well be right back. Ring ring progresso i cant believe im eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sisters wedding well its only 100 calories, so youll be ready for that dress uhhuh. You dont love the dress . I love my sister. 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. Before larry instantly transferred money from his bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. Before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an underserved season. And before he quit his friends leafraking business for not offering a 401k. Larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. Thats why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. Thats the power of streamlined connections. Thats merrill edge and bank of america. Oh, say it isnt so. Americas most famous 27foot hot dog on wheels is out of commission. The Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile crashed into a pole. Dont worry, they have several. It will not be out of commission. Wonder if it had anything to do with the weather. Look at this long line of snowstorms on the northern end. This system goes from the gulf to new england. We have sleet coming down in parts of alabama. The snow is pushing through the midatlantic. Its moving up through new england. Weve already seen over 5 inches in parts of d. C. And philadelphia picking up over 3 inches so far. Heres a look at snow totals by the time its all said and done which will be by early this afternoon. Its a quick hitter but enough to cause travel delays. Temperatures easier to take on the east coast but it is still very cold betty. Brutal and cold. Thank you. Stories making news thousands of people gathered in copenhagen to honor the victims of saturdays shooting spree. Two men are under arrest this morning. They are expected of aiding the gunmen in a pair of deadly terrorist shootings. President obama called the danish Prime Minister to offer condolences after the attack. A drastic shift in how americans view its enemies. A if you gallop poll think russia is the u. S. s biggest enemy, up from 2 two years ago and beats out north korea. In a separate gallop poll 1 in 5 americans think congress is doing a pretty good job. Thats in fact up 16 from december when the old congress was on its way out. President bushs political architect, karl rove on Hillary Clintons biggest white house threat. Well tell you who it is. Scrambled politics is up next. Ring ring . Progresso its ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. Its our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. Apology accepted. Im watching you soup people. Make it progresso or make it yourself know your Financial Plan wont keep you up at night. Know you have insights from Top Investment strategists to help set your mind at ease. Know that planning for retirement can be the least of your worries. With the guidance of a pnc investments financial advisor, know you can get help staying on track for the future youve always wanted. Were on a mission, a mission for underwareness, a cause to support the over 65 Million People who may need the trusted protection of depend underwear. Join us. Drop your pants for underwareness and show off a pair of depend. Because wearing a different kind of underwear, is no big deal. Support the cause and get a free sample of depend at underwareness. Com. 21 minutes past the hour. Here is your first look at this mornings dish of scrambled politics. An editorial in the washington post, republicans is playing hot potato with Homeland Security funding. An impasse over the budget may cause the department of Homeland Security to shut down at the end of the month. The postsupreme Court JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg spoke to msnbc reporter erin carmen about a widerange of topics. Including how the notorious rbg plans to serve. My successor will be the choice of whatever president is sitting at that time. Im concerned about doing the job full steam. Ive said many times, once i sense that i am slipping i will step down because this is a very intense job. It is by far the best and the hardest job ive ever had. Former george w. Bush deputy chief of staff karl rove thinks senator Elizabeth Warren could be a credible threat to Hillary Clinton if she decides to make a white house bid. During an interview with the hugh hewitt show he said, i think Elizabeth Warrens hardleft views on the economy are such that she could give her a run for her money. The liberal group run for warren has launched a new website called dear Elizabeth Warren. Com. Supporters can go online or send post cards or letters encouraging her to make a white house run. Look at all those former president s in one room. He wrote, happy president s day from the fourth one from the left. And thats your morning disturb of scrambled politics. Thats a great picture with president obama and all the other president s still alive today. Im joined by political analyst and bestselling author alex pennington. That was a nice picture. Kind of makes me sentimental to see that. Exactly. I dont know how this will make you feel though late last night, a texas federal judge put the fate of 5 million undocumented immigrants in limbo. Whats the play here with this . Im glad you mentioned the number. It really is important. This involves real people. These are 5 million folks who now have a huge level of anxiety this morning that they did not have last night. Were talking about young people who are here trying to get lives started. Many of these are the parents of people here legally. Americans say theyre sincere. Their parents are undocumented. Now they have to worry about this. We understand that the white house says the department of justice will a. Sure. Could this battle drag out for quite some time . Theres a legal battle and a political battle. Maybe we ought to separate them. Sure. The courts are always slow. It will go on for years. The injunction will be appealed. This isnt even the marriage of the case. Texas and 25 other states. It will come back to me in a couple of years. The politics are right now, the republicans very eager to make inroads with latino voters. This kind of thing just absolutely slams that back. Betty, really, might be another generation before republicans are able to get latino votes in this country. Really . Yes. That is incredible especially when youre looking at so many families that were really depend on that happening. In the meantime while you have this political battle and legal battle going on what happens with the undocumented immigrants . Well, you know, there was going to be a process that was going to begin on wednesday where people who fell under these new limitations were able to go in and register and put some applications information in. Thats frozen. Thats not going to happen on wednesday. But well have to watch and see whether the Circuit Court actually overturns this ruling and allows that process to begin. For right now, dont go down on wednesday. So dont do anything just yet. Even though a lot of worry is going through a lot of families it will take until wednesday. After wednesday we may get some kind of i guess, inroads as to where this will do . Yes, the first thing that will happen is there will be efforts to appeal this decision. Unless thats overturned nothings going to happen. Its like a chess match, it really is. You do this well do this well see how it plays out. Good to see you. Im betty nguyen. This is first look on nb