Martin luther kings widow. The words are not suitable for debate in the United States senate. But with sessions set to be confirmed as attorney general today, was it another wasted night on capitol hill . And are democrats once again just spinning their wheels . The decision. The fate of the president s travel ban now in the hands of Appeals Court judges after a contentious hearing. Has the government pointed to any evidence connecting these countries with terrorism . Concern for terrorism with those connected with radical islamic sects is kind of hard to deny. A ruling expected this week, but the Supreme Court will likely have the final say. And let the countdown begin. The next Winter Olympics exactly a year away. Were live in south korea to check on preparations there. And some of americas hopefuls join us for an olympicsized celebration on Mount Rockefeller. Today, wednesday, february 8th, 2017. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and sa vannah guthrie, live fro studio 1a in Rockefeller Plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. Youre looking at the scene out in Rockefeller Plaza that we call mount Rockefeller Plaza. I cannot wait to see the shriver mctwist over that jump. Im ready. You were saying if i did it, my hair wouldnt move. Thats false. Youre a good skew ier. Pretty good, but i cant do that. Ill admit it. Well have a party for olympic hopefuls as we get set one year out to the next Winter Olympics. Well have more on that in a second. First, let us get to our top story. We had tornadoes causing widespread destruction in parts of the south overnight, while new england is getting ready for a powerful snowstorm after a day of record high temperatures. Al will have his forecast in a moment. Lets start with nbcs gabe gutierrez. He is down in new orleans. Good morning to you. Good morning. The damage here is sporadiadic extensive in areas. Thanfull thankful thankfully, nobody was in this home when it was struck. The winds tossed it across this yard. Residents here are doing what they can to salvage whats left. It is a devastation. Reporter this morning, parts of the south are in shock. After fastmoving storms pounded several states. Its all gone. Reporter the ferocious winds flipping over this truck and tossing it down the road. Oh, my god. Look at this. Reporter tornadoes sliced through at least seven parishes in louisiana. Among the hardest hit areas, new orleans east, some of the same neighborhoods rah vvaged by katrina. The roof collapsed. Its gone. Reporter this woman was out of her house nearly a year after the hurricane destroyed it. Now this. It is overwhelming. With the hurricanes, you have opportunity to leave. With this, there is no opportunity. Reporter also damaged, a a nasa facility that builds rockets. Louisianas government declaring a state of emergency. Thousands left without power. We shouldnt be here. Reporter edward and his 83yearold mother barely survived when a tornado ripped the roof off their home. I was scared. I actually looked through the window and saw the tornado coming toward us through the window. Reporter roger howard was walking his dog when the storm roared through. Knocked me down and took my dog away, man. Took my dog away. I dont know where he at. Oh, many i god. Reporter the twister is part of a fierce system that brought hail. This size thats coming down right now. Reporter and relentless winds. In new orleans east, the National Guard has been called in to help with the clean up. The National Weather service says a tornado that blew through new orleans was at least an ef2, packing winds of 125 miles per hour. 45 people were injured in southeast louisiana. Matt and maria, thankfully, no deaths have been reported. Gabe gutierrez, thank you very much. Al has his hands full with the tornado ee eto recordbreak heat and now a snowstorm. It is crazy, what is going on now. We have the risk of Severe Weather in the south. You are watching the line that caused the problems last night move through florida. However, we currently have a risk of Severe Weather starting to push its way through into the southeast. You can see those showers and thunderstorms now making their way through. The impacts, weve got 32 Million People at risk for marginally Severe Weather. Isolated large hail, gusty winds, dangerous lightning. This is going to be something were watching. Now into this noreaster. Right now, we have temperatures that are going to be getting into the 50s and 60s up and down the eastern sea board. As this system pushes in, snow will develop tomorrow morning around 6 00 a. M. From washington, d. C. , mfphiladelphi new york. Washington, you wont see much snow but it is going to be falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour. Thursday morning into the afternoon, philadelphia, new york city, boston. Boston may even see thunder snow. Thats how vigorous this system is. As it pushes out, we look for the airports to be a mess. Major airport delays up and down the eastern seaboard. That, of course, is going to be a ripple effect. Falling temperatures, gusting winds. Look at the snowfall were looking at for right now. Down through washington and baltimore, only about an inch. 4 to 6 inches in philadelphia. New york city, 6 to 9, and may be a conservative estimate. Hartford, providence, boston, upwards of a foot. It is going to be a heavy, wet snow. Clearing it is going to be difficult. Power lines may come down because of tree limbs. This is going to be a real mess. The good news is, it is a fast moving system. Tale of two days. Yeah. Al, thank you. Lets turn to politics. Three federal Appeals Court judges are weighing the fate of President Trumps travel ban after hearing arguments for and against it last night. While on capitol hill, democrats pulled a second straight all nighter against another cabinet nominee. We have complete coverage starting with Peter Alexander at the white house. Good morning. This was a stunning confrontation in the middle of an already heated debate, just as Senate Democrats were arguing against senator Jeff Sessions, the nominee for attorney general. It is the rebuke of senator Elizabeth Warren that stole the night after republicans voted to formally bar her from speaking on the senate floor. Reporte reporter overnight, fireworks on the senate floor. Senator warren protesting Jeff Sessions, the pick for attorney general. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens. Reporter those words from a 186 l 1986 letter from dr. Martin luther king jr. s widow. The senates Top Republican interrupted. The motives and conduct of our colleague from alabama reporter Mitch Mccconnell accusing her of attacking a sitting senator. I ask to continue my remarks. Is there objection . Object. Reporter warren tweeting mrs. Kings voice was silenced before speaking out on msnbc. Im out of the game on the senate floor. I dont get to speak at all. Reporter sworn in hours earlier, education secretary betsy devos after a tiebreaking vote by Vice President pence. My vote for betsy devos was the easiest vote i ever cast. Reporter this morning, the immigration order remains in limbo. On a Conference Call tuesday, federal Appeals Court judges challenged lawyers from both sides. For the government, they asked, how is the existing screening process for immigrants and refugees insufficient . Is there reason to think there is a real risk or circumstances have changed so there would be a real risk . The president determined that there was a real risk. Reporter for the states opposing the ban, the judges want to know, what proof exists that it discriminates against muslims . We do not need to prove that this order harms only muslims, or that it harms every muslim. We just need to prove that it was motivated in part by a desire to harm muslims. Reporter the government arguing the ban is well within the president s power. The states insisting reenstating this would throw the country back into chaos. The president said the law would be upheld. Some things are law, im all in favor of that. Some things are common sense and this is common sense. Reporter kelly concedes the temporary ban was rushed. I should have delayed it a bit to talk to members of congress, to prepare them for what was coming. Reporter mr. Trump is touting himself as the law and order president. On tuesday, meeting with sheriffs, he repeated a false claim about Violent Crime in america. The murder rate is the highest in the country as it has been in 47 years. Reporter the president also raising eyebrows with this light hearted comment during the same meeting, targeting a texas state senator who wanted it to be tougher for Law Enforcement to seize assets by drug traffickers. Who is the senator . Well destroy his career. For the showdown on the senate floor tonight that would have gone unnoticed if republicans didnt silence senator warren, overnight, let liz speak began trending on twitter. After banned from speaking on the floor, senator warren read the entire letter aloud on facebook live. Already more than 3 Million People have watched. Matt and maria. Peter, thank you very much. Lets get to todays fact check, focusing on the president s claim about that National Murder rate being at a 47year high. Msnbcs chief Legal Correspondent ari mel pber look into that. Thats right. In actuality, the fbi statistics show the murder rate per capita here nationally is about a 45year low. There are plenty of places where there is a real problem. You look at new orleans, baltimore, detroit and st. Louis. Murder remains a real problem there. In addition, a jump from 2014 to 2015, we see in the National Murder rate, although it is still about half what it was in the 1990s. Interesting. Is that where, if were going to give President Trump a benefit of the doubt, can you say that maybe he combined these things . It was a decades high jump between 2014 and 15, and he may have said we are at decades high numbers . Certainly possible, matt. There have been claims by this president and other politicians that are totally made up. This isnt one of them. There is an issue here with one jump in the rate, and there are some big cities where the murder rate remains rising. Nicolle wallace is with us, as well. This isnt the first example where weve heard the president Say Something that is not true. We heard his surrogates do things that are similar. It feels to a lot of people like this president is still speaking to his base. Right. And not the entire country. That works during a campaign. Whats the danger of it when youre president . Well, as you all know from covering september 11th, when you need to speak to the whole country about something as dire and tragic as a terrorist attack, or about as something logistical. I mean, months after 9 11, anthrax showed up in the mail and the governments credibility was needed because we had to communicate with people about something everybody does. It is safe to get your mail. Heres what were doing. Heres the other thing about donald trump. He wants to be liked by more people than his base. Some of his surrogates spin, we have all we need. But donald trump is a television personality, was obsessed with ratings. As a politician, is obsessed with the approval number. Obsessed with growing his base of support. Do you think there is something he could do that would actually grow that base, that he could reach out and people from the other side who seem so divided could hear him and say, wait a minute, i actually like the guy . There is a big chunk of the opposition that will never get behind him. Right. But there are a lot of voters in the middle who could be softened if he softened some of his rhetoric, if he toned down some of his statements that are easily picked apart as lies, and if he were to moderate on positions. During the republican primary, nice things to say about planned parenthood. There is always room. Voters are intrecredibly forgiv. One of the most divisive things is signing the order on immigration. This is in the hands of the 9th Circuit Court of appeals. Where is this likely to go . Several of their questions left the impression that they are comfortable with a temporary bl blockage while this moves through the court. That is normal if the challengers have likely comments on the merits. This is a big clash that could make it to the Supreme Court. The numbers we just talked about on crime are from the f bi but e didnt consult the fbi. The immigration numbers were hearing from the agencies he didnt consult them at first either. Ari melber, nicole with the l nicolle wallace, thank you very much. Chuck schumer has concerns about neil gorsuch. Schumer stopped short of saying hed oppose the nomination. The new york democrat asked gorsuch several questions, including whether a muslim ban could, in concept, be constitutional. Schumer said gorsuch avoided answers like the plague. Senator Diane Feinstein also met with dpgorsuch this week. California democrat called the nominee caring and impressive. Update on a story we told you about tuesday. A days long man hunt is over for a man suspected of multiple murdered in at least two states. 44yearold was wanted for the killing of two women in florida as well as a woman in alabama. He and his accomplice were hiding in a Roadside Motel in western georgia. After a stand off, he died from an apparently selfinflicted gunshot wound. Actor richard hatch, best known for captain apollo in the original battle star galactic movie and Television Series died. He died tuesday afternoon after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He appeared in dynasty, the love boat. He was 71 years old. The dakota pipeline access project is moving forward. An easement will be granted to allow for the completion of the 1,100 mile pipeline. It is one of the necessary steps to begin construction on the last section of the project. Meantime, seattle has become the first major city to cut ties with wells fargo over the banks involvement in financing the pipeline. On a light note, more proof this morning that true friends are there when you need them. Take a look at this video from a Wildlife Rescue facile the i in italy. One donkey struggling to make it through a fence when other donkeys look on. One of the other donkeys removes the wooden slat with his mouth, allowing all three animals to walk free. We need teamwork like that here. The other one hot wired a car. And off they went. Boom. I think youd do that for me. I would. Put your mouth, lift it up. Mr. Roker, more on the weather . Yeah. There are a hundred lines. Dont do it. Im not going to do any of it. Lets show you around the rest of the country. We are looking at cold air that will be making its way into the northeast later. You can see weve got the next storm getting ready to work in. Heavy rain and snow in the Pacific Northwest and california. Well look at that coming up in a little bit. And weve got beautiful weather down through texas on into the central plains. Well get to y at whole foods market, we believe in food thats naturally beautiful and fresh. Delicious and powerful, and full of nutrients. Food that makes us nourished and mighty, and connects us to the natural world. So there are no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no artificial preservatives in any of the food we sell. We believe in real food. Whole foods market. Kboorng. Know for tomorrow. Accumulating snow will be heavy at times. Going to lead to slick roads and poor visibility. None of that today. Look at these temperatures this afternoon. Record warmth. Feel like spring for philadelphia. The Lehigh Valley, fog will disappear. Warms to 55 degrees. 60s for delaware. Suburbs and new jersey, even at the shore. Have a great day. H depression. Small amounts of lsd. First, this is today on nbc. Ahead, would you want to share a room with a stranger . Major hotel chain considering Communal Hotel rooms. Marking one year till the marking one year till the Winter Olympics with marking one year till the Winter Olympics with i had a wonderful time tonight. Me too call me tomorrow . Im gonna send a vague text in a couple of days, that leaves you confused about my level of interest. Ill wait a full two days before responding. Perfect were never gonna see each other again, will we . Nono. Wouldnt it be great if everyone said what they meant . The citi double cash card does. It lets you earn double cash back. 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. The citi double cash card. Double means double. More creating, imagining, doing with purpose. At quaker, for over 140 years, weve known good is made. From the potential that started with the humble oat to the innovative spirit within our people, weve been thoughtfully crafting, perfecting, to bring whats truly good to your table. So, while everyones getting back to whats good, we were always here. Quaker we are the good we make. But theres so much more to it. Heres how benefiber® works. Inside us are trillions of good microflora that support digestive health. The prebiotic fiber in benefiber® nourishes them. And what helps them, helps you. Clear, tastefree, benefiber®. Brow define fill duo the latest wow in brow . From Maybelline