0 congratulations. >> thanks for sharing your story. >> great way to start the weekend. can't do much better. there's other news. we'll keep trying. we'll send you to the "newsroom" with carol costello. >> having a sister is the best. thanks so much. "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for joining me this morning. millions of americans shivering from the cold and shuttering from the record cost to stay warm. after two weeks of that dreaded polar vortex a new arctic blast is plunging temperatures record loss and driving up heating costs for most of us. propane, natural gas, heating oil all surging. some propane customers are seeing their prices double if they are lucky enough to get their tanks refilled. the reason? brutal january cold that shattered a staggering 1100 records and counting this month alone. as if the cold weren't bad enough snow and ice are also sweeping all the way to the deep south. nick valencia is in houston where an ugly morning commute is now getting under way. good morning? >> reporter: good morning, carol. it is especially told for this part of the country this time of year. in houston the last couple of hours we've seen the sleet ebb and flow. texas department of transportation said they are out prepping the roads for these icy conditions. a crippling ice storm affecting millions of americans. houston, san antonio, austin all waking up this morning at risk from dangerous ice building up as freezing rain and bitter cold temperatures take hold. residents here all too familiar with crippling ice storms like the powerful one in 2011 that paralyzed the airports and led to rolling blackouts. some schools in the area closing their doors. city officials prepare for the worse. >> here we have the decision that are made and how we respond to a threat and how we execute that throughout the region. >> reporter: in indiana a horrifying scene. dozens of semitrucks and cars colliding in white out conditions. three people were killed and more than a dozen injured in this massive pileup on interstate 94. scores of car crashes blamed on the deep freeze. treacherous conditions tangling trubs and cars from the midwest to the northeast. the winter weather wreaking havoc in the skies with flight delays and cancellations quickly adding up. those cancellations are a big concern here for houston. no other city in the united states has been hypothetical as hard in terms of cancellations between two major airports here more than 150 flights already cancelled so if you're traveling this morning be sure to check with your airline. carol? >> good ad vies. nick valencia, many thanks. new developments too in the case of nsa leaker edward snowden. just hours after the kpild american said he's not ready to return to the united states russia said he's welcome to stay there as long as he wants. russia's extension of snowden's asylum comes with option as well as one online with cnn. good morning, joe. >> reporter: this information comes from a russian top official, the read of the foreign affairs community. he said russia will not end snowden's asylum and send him back to the united states and said it would be up to snowden if he wants to go back. they would suggest on its face the one year asylum that was granted to snowden is open ended now, that there is apparently no deadline for snowden to reach a resolution with the u.s. government. eric holder has reached out to russia in the recent past giving assurances that snowden would not be exposed to the death penalty if put on trial even though he's not been accused of any death penalty eligible violation. snowden has been accused by some on capitol hill on engaging in spying for russia. russia has denied that. the new development this morning is that the head of the foreign affairs committee will not end snowden's asylum and returning stoup him. just yesterday snowden said returning to the u.s. would not be possible because whistle blower laws here offer him no protection. >> joe johns reporting live from washington this morning. four people are dead and more than 50 injured after explosions rocked police headquarters in cairo. two smaller explosions then went off near police stations in other areas. egypt's interior minister calls the events quote desperate acts and comes one day before the third anniversary of egypt's revolution. once rising political career lands with a thud in a virginia courtroom. bob mcdonnell and his wife will make a court appearance on federal corruption charges. the allegations are they accepted $165,000 in gifts and loans from the own of a virginia business. gifts like shoes and a certain type of face cream and loui louis vitton goodies. the nation agencies second busiest commuter railroad back up. a power failure resulted in three main metro-north lines being shut down for two hours in new york. look at the chaos in grand central station. huge crowds of people standing around waiting for their trains. the rail line takes thousands of people from new york city to connecticut and the suburbs every day. the death toll is expected to rise after a fire at a home for the elderly in canada. five people now confirmed dead. 30 others are not accounted for. frigid temperatures froze the water being used by firefighters at one point and most of the residents, well they were ambulatory, they couldn't move, some had alzheimer's. paula newton is in quebec and joins us on the phone. good morning, paula. >> reporter: good morning. quite a scene. they have been moving equipment into the try to basically recover some of the victims but, you know, the entire place has collapsed. it is now encased in thick layers of ice. the temperature is about zero degrees. they don't have a handle how many people are missing. a grim scene. many people are asking questions. police say they are not ruling anything out. the investigation continues. not only will it take some time for them to understand what cause this but for them to know exactly how many people died in the fire. as you said, 30 missing. police believe, unfortunately, the number of dead will get very close to that but they don't know exactly how many people perished in this fire and just the scene, carol u-can imagine encased in ice and yet when they try to get to southeast victims there are still fire burning beneath those thick layers of ice. >> paula newton reporting live from quebec this morning. as people around the nation speculate as to whether hillary clinton will run for president it seems she has her own gravitational pull. just take a look at the bizarre cover of this weekend's "new york times" magazine. the former first lady and secretary of state has been transformed into planet hilary. some people say the image freaks them out. the internet loved it. some of you joked planet hilary on justin bieber's mugshot. we'll dig deeper into the article. still to come, john boehner makes his first trip to the "tonight show" couch. >> listen, you know, i go to bed at 10:00. and i heard you were going, the show was about over and i thought i better get here before it was too late. >> i was going to say the same thing about you. >> hear what mr. boehner says about a presidential run next. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? 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