Await the calls of duty from as far away as ohio. Im asking the general public to make decisions that are wise. Reporter officials again repeated warnings for people to stay home and out of the mounting mess. I guess Mother Nature is making up for last year. Reporter yielding to fleets of snowplows, making room for emergencies. In rhode island, a slow start for accumulations quickened by afternoon. Massachusetts and connecticut governors each order roadways clear at 4 00, a ban on traffic. For those still needing to travel, rail Service Ground to a halt, triggering a midday evening rush at new yorks penn station. Airports, including laguardia, were at all but a standstill. Im from minnesota. I know snow. But just dont want to be stuck here for a few days. Reporter the exodus turned hustle and bustle in providence and boston into what looked like movie sets, minus the action. This is coming right off the ocean here. And this is what has Emergency Management officials so concerned. Reporter but along the coast, thats exactly whats expected later. A major storm surge taking heavy amounts of snow for a bumpy, wild, overnight ride. And ahead of what could be an extended hibernation for many this weekend, lastminute shopping runs, especially to fortify the fridge. Were getting enough supplies so we can make a hot pot of chicken soup for the weekend. Reporter two of the biggest sellers today, gasoline and liquor. One Liquor Store Manager said they did five times the business of a normal friday, calling it almost christmas in february, brian. Ron mott starting us off in providence, rhode island tonight. Take care up there. We want to show you how big this looks from space. Look at the tops of the clouds. This is not one but two storms joining together. Not visible in that picture, our friend al roker. Hes in boston in the thick of it. But its going to get much thicker as the night goes on. Al, tell us about where it is and where were headed. Well, brian, this storm is about 200 miles away from boston, and were getting the signs of it starting to intensify. Weve been hearing reports of about thundersnow in long island and providence, rhode island and power lines and trees are snapping and going down and Power Outages being reported. We have winter storm warnings up now for interior sections of new york state, new jersey, pennsylvania, all the way into interior new england. But the areas in red from new york to eastport, maine, blizzard warnings in effect. Very strong winds, very strong accumulations. Here, take a look on the radar. You can see all that moisture coming in off the atlantic, the cold air streaming in from the north and where the two meet, thats where were getting all these blizzardlike conditions that are really starting to develop across long island, connecticut, and now moving into rhode island and massachusetts. Snowfall accumulations generally about 6 inches to a foot in interior sections of new york. New york city, though, anywhere from a foot to a foot and a half. And then the areas in gray from interior connecticut, coastal massachusetts, into new england, were talking about 2 to 2 1 2, maybe even 3 feet of snow. And as you can see, winds are starting to pick up, and thats going to be a big story too. Were talking about sustained winds tonight into tomorrow between 25 and 40mileanhour winds with gusts approaching and sometimes exceeding hurricaneforce conditions. Well continue to update you tonight on the Weather Channel. A full report tomorrow morning on wake up with al, starting at 5 00 a. M. And then the today show at 7 00. Brian . Al roker on a very snowy boston common. Al, thanks. As we said, this storm has brought so much to a standstill. As they like to say in storms like this, if youre not already where you wanted to be, theres little use trying. That means roads, rails, especially the sky. The air space is pretty much shut down. Rehema ellis is at new york laguardia. She was ordered outside the airport when the inside was shut down late today. Rehema, looks pretty quiet there. Reporter indeed, brian. This is how the storm is impacting travel. Look here at one of the nations busiest airports. New Yorks Laguardia airport is virtually empty on a friday evening. The monitors inside the terminal tell the story. More than 1,800 cancellations at new yorks area airports. Connecticuts Bradley International airport shut down earlier today. 4,700 flights were cancelled nationwide yesterday, today and tomorrow. Good news for passengers. Airlines waived the cancellation fees, hoping passengers would make other plans. Overnight, 200 pieces of snow removal equipment will be used to clean the planes and runways, hoping to get operations back on track sometime sunday. And speaking of tracks, amtrak has shut down service between new york and boston earlier this afternoon with limited service tomorrow. And as ron mott mentioned, a travel ban is in place in connecticut and massachusetts. And so no matter how you look at it, this storm is making it hard to get around. Brian . Rehema ellis at a very quiet Laguardia Airport tonight. Thanks. We mentioned this earlier. As the New York Times put it today, perhaps in any other year, this noreaster would have been met with little more than a shrug around this region. But remember, this year, little more than 100 days after Hurricane Sandy decimated a huge part of this area, this storm is hitting the same people along the same coastline that have just been hit. So even hardened new yorkers are taking no chances this time, getting prepared early, in case the power goes out. Some folks have been waiting over an hour to get gas. And we found some gas stations in new york and new jersey already out of fuel. Weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is up in revere beach, just north well, going in and out, because of the satellite signal. Just north of the city of boston with more on this storms earlyedge arrival. Hey, mike. Hey, good evening, brian. The winds here on the north shore have already gusted over 50 Miles Per Hour and before the storm pulls out tomorrow afternoon, gusts could top 70. The beaches and islands will take the biggest hit, with significant beach erosion, some extreme. Also moderate to major coastal flooding. Tomorrows high tide is one of concern around 10 00 a. M. , with 20foot breakers on the beach and a 4 1 2 foot surge in some spots will likely cause structural damage and because of that some local police departments, including scituate have told residents to head for Higher Ground and evacuate. Overnight, snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches an hour and winds pushing hurricaneforce, at least 6 feet. And brian, keep in mind, the worst of the wind and heaviest snow bands have yet to arrive. Ill be here all night, bringing you the pictures on the Weather Channel. Back to you. Easy there, mike. We know you like the Severe Weather, but try to take care. That goes for your crew, as well. Mike seidel, revere beach, mass tonight. While all of this has been going on, on the other coast, a massive drama continues. A manhunt goes on for a military veteran who is now targeting Police Officers and their family members. The focus tonight is in the Snowy Mountains outside l. A. , but people are nervous, and supposed sightings of this suspect have caused alarm bells to go off all day. Theyve been reported as far south as the mexican border. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer is with us from what is still a heavily fortified lapd headquarters. Miguel, good evening. Reporter brian, good evening. With the search in day two, the mood here at lapd remains tense. Helicopters have been in and around this region all day long. And today police focused their search some 115 miles away from here. More than 100 tactical officers swarmed the mountains three hours outside of los angeles. Blinded by 10 inches of snow and facing frigid cold, they found no one. Earlier, s. W. A. T. Teams cleared 400 cabins, one by one. A highpowered militarylike response to hunt down accused cop killer, christopher dorner. This business is not always safe. Our folks are highly trained, and this is what we train for. Reporter dorners burntout truck was discovered here thursday. So were his footprints, say police. But his trail has gone cold. Walter kunkle slept with an axe for protection. We had all the kids sleep with us last night. I couldnt sleep. The dogs barked all night. Scary. Reporter near los angeles, police searched dorners mothers home, but made no arrests. The former lapd officer is accused of murdering three. Among the victims, a memorial for a 34yearold Riverside Police officer who cant be named because police fear dorner will go after his loved ones. This individual has a history of targeting the families, and so who knows . We dont want to take a risk he may target the family of an officer hes already killed or wounded. Reporter in dorners chilly manifesto, he names officers and families hes targeting for revenge for being fired. He writes, now you will live the life of prey. What spikes this case is the fact that he has named specific individuals. So you could be mad at god, mad at life, mad at your employer. But when you start to name specific people, that is when we get extremely concerned. Reporter with police on tactical alert, everyone is jumpy. Along the mexico border, a twohour traffic jam as officers search for dorner. Outside a san diego gym, a case of mistaken identity when Police Question a man who matched the suspects description. Today, the l. A. County jail were dorners exwife works, went into lockdown after a false sighting. Im fearful. I dont really want to be here right now. Reporter tonight in cities and in the mountains, theres fear. Police say its not if, but when will the cop killer strike again. And while this massive man hunt pushes on, the lapd says six officers are on paid administrative leave after they opened fire on a vehicle that matched the suspects description thursday. The suspect was not inside the vehicle, but instead one 71yearold woman and her daughter were shot multiple times by police as they tried to deliver newspapers. Tonight, brian, they have hired an attorney. Incredible story unfolding in southern california. Miguel almaguer in l. A. , thanks. Still ahead, the outrage of over 1 billion in tax money wasted. Is it any way to run our government. And a sad invasion of privacy for two former u. S. President s, their family, friends. Their secret Service Investigation under way. Back now with our series, the fleecing of america. Waste, fraud and abuse of tax dollars. Tonight were prepared to air a report about a staggering waste of money in washington. Just as were being told of the potential cuts on the way because theres not enough money. Tonight, how it is 1 billion was allowed to be spent on a huge military project with virtually nothing to show for it. Our report from our Senior Investigative correspondent, lisa myers. Reporter it was supposed to be the air forces revolutionary new Computer System, to track everything from planes to spare parts to bombs to winter refueling tanker. In need of maintenance. The Expeditionary Combat support system. The idea was to save billions of dollars by combining 240 existing Computer Systems, some from the 70s, into a single system, for buying and managing everything. Instead, after seven years and 1 billion, the air force has pulled the plug, stating the program has not yielded any significant military capability. Senator john mccain wrote the pentagon, calling it one of the most egregious examples of mismanagement in recent memory. 1 billion has been basically totally wasted, with nothing to show for it. Reporter just flushed down the drain. Flushed down the drain. Reporter you know, a lot of americans remember that infamous 600 toilet set. Is this even worse than that . I dont mean to make a joke, but at least they got a toilet seat. Out of this, they got nothing. We got nothing. Reporter so what went wrong . You had a company that wasnt up to the task of managing the project. You had a Computer System that wasnt actually able to do the job. And you had an air force that was asleep at the switch. Reporter a Top Executive for the lead contractor, Computer Sciences corporation or csc, told nbc news that it provided the air force with capabilities and assets to deliver the system of the future, and that taxpayers got their moneys worth. An air force official sees it differently. Im personally appalled at the limited capabilities that program has produced. Reporter Senior Air ForceOfficials Say the Computer Company was unable to deliver what it promised. But admit that the air force too was to blame, and didnt have the level of expertise to manage such a huge complex project. Should people be fired over this . Sure. Sure they should be. Will they be . No. Reporter in fact, csc says it has four other contracts with the air force. And a report found that other similar computer programs throughout the pentagon are 8 billion over budget and as much as 13 years behind. Lisa myers, nbc news, washington. Were back in a moment with a highprofile politician in deep legal trouble who just cut a deal. Theres this island and its got supercute kangaroos. Barrow island has got rare kangaroos. Chevron has been developing energy here for decades. We need to protect their environment. We have a strict quarantine system to protect the integrity of the environment. Forty years on, its still a classa nature reserve. Its our job to look after them. Its my job to look after it. Some good news tonight about the nasty flu season weve been enduring in this country. Cdc says flu activity is down. We have probably, probably seen the worst of the season. Flu activity was listed as widespread this week. 38 states at least down from 42 states last week. News remains bad for the elderly, however, with more than 50 of hospitalizations in patients over 65. We got word today Jesse Jackson jr. Has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and has admitted to Campaign Finance violations. He resigned his house seat hes held for the past 17 years back in november. He acknowledged using Campaign Contributions to buy personal items, including a rolex watch and furniture. His sentence will be decided by a federal judge and could include still prison time. The bush family, including both former president s and some of their children and friends, have fallen victim to an anonymous computer hacker who has infiltrated and exposed family emails, private photos. The material initially released on the web included private information, phone numbers, security codes, a photo of bush 41 in the hospital recently, and photos of artworks painted by bush 43. The secret service is now investigating. The legendary jazz musician, donald byrd has died. The detroit native played with coal train, lots of r b, a lot of progressive music sampled many times in recent years. Donald byrd was 80 years old. A still photo of a little girl is getting a lot of attention on the web, deservedly so. Her name is daniella, she is 3 years old, she saluted during the anthem at ft. Drummond, new york, as her dad left for afghanistan on a ninemonth deployment. And attention parents, you dont see this every day. A very nice family from Washington State went to pay their check at a restaurant and noticed a discount. Look at them there. For wellbehaved kids. Right there on the receipt, as we all know, pulling that off in a fancy italian place with three young kids deserves a medal, if not a discount on the check. We are back in a moment with a final check on our top story. This big, bad blizzard in the east coast getting worse by the minute. We are back. And lets get you updated on the progress of this snowstorm in the east. A genuine blizzard on the way. Jim cantore is in boston. Jim, ive got to say, we had mike seidel on earlier. I took one look at their live camera picture, made a false assumption they were on the southern cape. They were to the north of boston, revere beach, where just off the coast the winds have picked up, upwards of 50 knots. Yeah, its only going to get worse, brian. Were going to get some of that wind back here in boston, thats where well deal with the full teeth of this storm. Probably right around midnight through about, 5 00, 6 00 in the morning. It will be accompanied by thunder and lightning. And right now the National Grid estimates we will probably lose about 100,000 customers with power. And remember, brian, were going to have to get the snow out of the way before we can get in and repair the power poles and the lines. So its a twofold problem here. Lets show whats going on with the radar and ill show you this purple area, if you will, on the radar. This is where the heaviest snow is coming down across long island, across southern connecticut, rhode island, into massachusetts. All of this is building north. We will be in this all night long. And that means the snow totals are going to really add up in through here. The back edge of the storm, just starting to show up there across eastern pennsylvania. But it will take a long time before it gets into eastern massachusetts. Now, just as soon as we get rid of this storm in the northeast, we will focus quickly on another blizzard across the high plains. This one, though, will also have a Severe Weather threat down to the south. There will be severe thunderstorms from Oklahoma City down to dallas. Both on saturday and sunday, they will shift east toward the mississippi valley, as will the blizzard conditions for the high plains. So no rest for the weary here as we go from one big storm right to another. The only difference is geographically where it will happen. Brian, back to you. Jim cantore in boston, part of our team from the Weather Channel that will be out in it all night long. That is for us our broadcast on a friday night and for this week. Thank you for being here with us. Im brian williams. Lester holt will be here with you this weekend. We, of course, hope to see you right back here on monday night. Well have more on the storm when we come back on the air with an allnew rock center in our new time slot tonight at 10 00, 9 00 central. In the meantime, have a good night. Have a good weekend. Good night. Good evening on this friday night. Im jessica aguirre. And im raj mathai. Tonight a san jose man is behind bars for plotting to blow up a bay area bank. He claimed he would, quote, dance with joy when the bomb exploded. It was a terror plot he planned with a member of the taliban. We have Team Coverage tonight. Investigative reporter Tony Kovaleski has exclusive details about the suspect. We start with nbc bay areas arturo santiago with the details of this foiled plot. Arturo . Reporter well, roj, the man was thought to be with the taliban, actually turned out to be an undercover fbi agent. He was so convinced he even developed a plan with the agent to train taliban fighters. But first, he wanted to blow up a bank. No one answered the door at the family home in san jose today, but neighbors say they heard about the man the fbi said was living here. It was shocking. To say the least. No, i dont have any information about those people. Ive never met them before. I dont even know their names. Reporter in an affidavit, the fbi says during an undercover agents initial meeting the suspect proposed car bombing the Federal Reserve bank in san francisco. They also say that the goal was to, quote, trigger a governme governmental crackdown which he suspected would trigger a rightwing counter response against the government followed by, he hoped, civil war. In the days and weeks that followed as he and the undercover agent built the car bomb in a storage unit in hayworth, the plan was changed to target the bank of America Branch in oakland. According to the affidavit, he said he would, quote, dance with joy when the bomb exploded. It never did. Early this morning he allegedly parked the car bomb at the bank, then tried to detonate it. It never went off and he was arrested. Officials say the bomb never pose posed a risk. Our legal expert expects the prosecutions case will need to be very detailed. All of the k