quite literally the pipeline for russia and so much exports of oil and gas to europe. this is right there, the footprint, the chess piece for russia. >> it goes right through ukraine. and of course, "the new york times" reporting this morning that angela merkel spoke to vladimir putin and told president obama that she believes putin has lost touch with reality. so, that's a little unsettling to read as you wake up this morning. all right, four minutes after the hour. in other news, another round of deadly winter weather slicing through the middle of the united states. at this hour, close to 100 million people are waking up to ice, snow and plunging temperatures, severe storms. right now there is a state of emergency in tennessee, alabama and texas. i just got word from someone on fit twitter that texas is a mess this morning. overall across the country, 2,000 flights, mostly in the northeast, have already been canceled today. in parts of kansas, the windchill overnight made it feel like 20 below. take a look at just how treacherous that is. 6 inches of snow sending cars skidding off interstate 135 in