Right now. Good evening. Right now we are in the early hours of what maye a historic snowstorm. Winter weather warnings stretch from the south up through new york. Snow has been falling for several hours in thee washington, d. C. Area which could see two feet before it is over. A live look at white house. The snow falling there. Philadelphia, baltimore and new york also in the path with blizzard conditions expected. Officials are warning of coastal flooding and Power Outages. Airlines have canceled some 6,000 flights going into the weekend. That is impacting travelers across the country. Our team is in place with the very latest. Lets beg with Miguel Almaguer in washington, d. C. Go evening. Reporter lester, good evening. The steady snow is here in washington, d. C. Some of the citys most recognizable landmarks may be difficult to make out in a few hours. It is getting sloppy. The snow is starting to blow sideways. It could reach gusts up to 50 miles per hour. Hunkered down as we face a major threat. Reporter tonight this deadly winter wallop is showing little mercy. Blinding snow and paralyzing ize and widespread Power Outages crippling 20 states. Nashville, tennessee, going nowhere fast. More than 200 collisions in six hours. Only getting worse. One in every four americans facing this brutal blast, it is a whiteout in kentucky. And for many a blackout at home. Tens of thousands in a deep freezeithout electricity or heat. With trees crashing into homes, cars are sliding into each other. Freeways are standstill, others a ghost town. It is a state of emergency in washington, d. C. Inside of the war room, calls for help have doubled. The blizzard could be catastrophic. We havent sn a storm like this in the district in 90 years. Reporter probasketball and hockey games the National Guard loading humvees and First Responders ready to roll. We need to make sure we uld get to the scene. Reporter with gas pumps empty, store shelves are bare. We have gone opping three times. Reporter tonight this monster storm, a thousand miles wide, is bringing travel to a standstill. In chicago a plane skidded off an icy runway. Thousands of canceled flights. Tonight new york is bracing, philly expecting more than a foot of snow. D. C. , two. Strong winds will lead to near zero visibility and cause trees to fall and overhead power lines. Reporter governor Chris Christie off the campaign trail and now returning home. Mandatory evacuations tonight along the jersey shore. Still reeling from Superstorm Sandy and now facing beach erosion. Nobody wants to be in waist deep freezing cold water in the middle of 50 mileperhour wind gusts and blizzard another relentless punch. Reporter overnight d. C. Will stay in the bulls eye. They are calling the decision that could develophere, quote, lifethreatening. They could begin to dig out on sunday. The big question, lester, what will happen between now and then. Miguel, thanks. Al roker is here. This seems to be tracking the forecast. It absolutely is. The worst is yet t t come. We are watching the snow encroach on to new jersey, stretching back to memphis, tennessee. Here is what wsee as far as the accumulations are concerned. We are still on track for baltimore and Washington Area to pick up anywhere from 18 to 26 inches of snow. West of there could be even three feet. This snow will last into tomorrow. Winds will start gusting at 50 miles per hoho. Snow could be falling at two to four miles per hour. Two to four inches per hour. Now we go philadelphia, new jersey and western p. A. , we are looking for periods of heavy snow. Wind gusts of up to 40 snow upwards of 18 inches. New york city, were going to stay with about six to 12 inches of snow. The snow will start early t torrow morning. But well start to see those gusts pick up to about 5 5 miles per hour. And the winds will going to be a big problem, lester. Were going to be looking at galeforce winds that push water up against, so we look for beach erosion and coastal flooding and a lot of power lines coming down as well. Al, youll be on the today show tomorrow morning with the latest. Well look for that. This is really just thetart of the travel nightmare this storm is creating. It is beginning to paralyzeir travel along the east coast with a ripple skt across the country. Airports in several major cities inside and outsidef the storm zone have canceled flights for tomorrow, including philadelphia where our jacob rascon has more. Reporter misery in the air. On the roads. And on the rails. You just cant get some of the nations busiest airports brought to a standstill with a ripple effect. Richd and linda struggling to get to san francisco. Trying to get out of town before the snowstorm. This is our third flight change since we started. Reporter flight aware reports more than 3000 Flights Canceled in more than 6,6,0 delayed so far. Over dulles outside of washington, flights circled today, waiting for clear runways for landing. By days end, no flights in or out of dulles, washington national, philadelphia and charlotte through saturday. This Florida High SchoolBasketball Team stuck in atlanta. Our flight got canceled while we were on it. And we had to gege back off it and now weve been waiting here since about 10 00, 11 00. Reporter but nody wants to get caught driving in a blizzard. Virginia state police alone have taken more than a thousand calls greyhound and other bus liners canceling routes. And amtrak is up and running but already modifying schedules. Trains are able to operate through severe conditions. Other pieces of infrastructure, dated infrastructure like we have here on the northeast corridor could be vulnerable. Reporter best travel advice dont. If you are planning to fly tomorrow, your flight has been canceled and please do not come to the airport. Reporter and the terminals are emptying behind me. Some of those taking the last flights out as the travel nightmare affecting airports as far away as california. Trtrel not expected to be back to normal until the middle of next week. Lester. Jacob. As we said, this farreaching. The midatlantic and northeast are batting snow parts of the south are struggling with dangerous icy conditions. Gabe gutierrez has more on that from charlotte, North Carolina, in the region that took the massive storm. Reporter in the south tonight, a slippery slope. From tennessee to the carolinas. A triplethreat, devastating snow, sleet and freezing rain. The brakes locked up and i slid into the back of t tir car. This car even catching fire. The driver revving the engine after caught in a snowdrift. Here2in charlotte, the storm started after midnight. The morning commute treacherous. At this emergency command center, all hands on deck after at least six weatherrelated deaths in North Carolina alone. Statewide, more than a thousand crashes. Anything over a quarter of an inch could be devastating not only to our interstates or roadways, but also to our power grid as well. Reporter ron far is among those rushing to respond to the mounting accidents. How has today been . Nonstop. Reporter throughout the day the wintry mix piled up. Take a look through the air. This is sleet right now. But the ices most dangerous. But toppling trees, cutting off power to thousands. The state of emergency coming at a crucial time. The carolinaa panthers shoveling snow off the field before practice today. The nfc championship game still set for sunday here. But a major pep rally for the team canceled. I think everybody seemed kind of panicked and kind of nervous about it. Stay off the roads, if you dont need to be on the roads and spend some time with your family. Reporte tonight charlotte is on ice. But the city is thankful many heeded the warnings and stayed home. Gabe gutierrez, nbc news, charlotte. News about the largest recall of all time getting even bigger. Llions of vehicles being driven on roads with airbags that could potentially explode violently. There is word of another death linked to these japanese made takata airbags found in vehicles of more than a dozen automakers. Details every driver should know. Reporter tonights recall affected domestic and foreign automakers. 5 million more vehicles with the potentially defective takata airbags. The manufacturers impacted, audi, bmw, daimler, ford, honda, mazda, mercedes, saab and volkswagen. What we dont know is what models are recalled. The action by nhtsa, the national Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes afteroel knights death last month. The 52yearold father died when the drivers side airbag in his 2006 ford ranger exploded in a crash. A death one safety advocate said was preventible. This inflater had been recalled in 61 othe countries by other manufacturers. Ford, nhtsa and takata knew this had problems. Reporter the government said thousands of tests were run on that inflater and it never failed. Takata said it is cooperating fully with regutors and ford states if we find an issue with our prompt actn to address customer safety. One million of the vehicles recalled tonight have airbag inflaters similar to the one in knights crash. Others have inflators that did rupture during testing. The government calls this a massive safety crisis and said it is using all tools to clean up the mess. A mess that is so far taken Nine American lives, ten worldwide. Anne thompson, nbc news, new york. The cdc says at least one perern has died and around dozen more have been sickened by an outbreak of listeria linked to package sylads made at a dole processs facility in ohio. That facility has been shut down. The saladad were sold under dole, fresh selection and simple truth. We put more information on our website. E to politics now. Just ten days until the first votes are cast in ia and both parties struggling with fierce internal divisions. To blunt Bernie Sanders momentum and conservatives is banning togethe in dramatic fashion to try to do something, anything, to stop trump. Weve got it all covered starting with nbcs katy tur. Reporter in the span of an hour and a half, the Republican Party showed just how tense 2016 has become. 10 00 p. M. On thursday night, influential conservative magazine the National Review goes live online with its against trump issue. A scathing editorial, accompanied by 22 articles from these leading conservative thinkers. Bashing the billionaire. Like clock work trump fired back with his usual putdowns. And by 11 37, the National Review was out of the houston republican debate. Disinvited by the rnc. You cant have a debate partner come out fororr against any particular candidate. Repter david bowes wrote one of the editorial. He is a philosophically unlured Political Tendencies toward strong man ideas. Reporter facing the real prospect of a ted cruz nomination thth establishment has warmed to trump. Theove earning its own nickname. Abc, anything but cruz strategy. And while trump is leading in nearly every poll, there are those who seeeeis major asset, that tell it like it is, dont get in my way rhetoric as a major weakness. I think it is pigheaded. He is kin of he has his own style. Reporter take twitter, where today trump retweeted someone who claims to live in jew america. Links to the holocaust and has the user name white genocide. Katy tur, nbc news, new york. m casey hunt covering the sanders campaign. Bernie sanders has gone from way behind to on fire. Taking on Hillary Clinton today in new hampshire. I want to say a word on an issue that secretary clinton and and that is the incredible power of wall street. Reporter the attack has clinton pushing back again, telling the des point register she doesnt regret taking hundreds of thousands of dollars for paid speeches to wall street banks. No, i dont. I dont. Anybody who thinks they could buy me, doesnt know me. Reporter sanders script has put him within striking distance of clinton in iowa and into the lead in new hampshire. Your friends in the media would have told you nine months ago i was a fringe ndidate, not a serious candidate. Reporter and it has brought out her chief defender. Last night in las vegas. This other guy is madder than she is and that feels authentic. Reporter that feels of authenticity drawing young voters to sanders. I think hillary does what we want her to say where burny is more honest. His campaign`today releasing a new video to help get them to the poll. This is my first time voting. Im not a registered voter. Still facing an uphill bat until iowa and beyond. Against a fierce competitor who has been through this once before. Casey hunt, nbc news, washington. Now to a developing story out of canada where a School Shooting has left at least five people dead and two others critically injured. A suspect is in custody but no word yet on the person identity or the identities of the victims. The school serers grades 7 through 12 in a small town in saskatchewan. Still ahead, change coming to the oscars. The Major Overhaul t kaed will make in response to the growing outrage in the lackof diversity in this years nominations. A american student on the trip to the most reclusive nation in the world. Why north korea now says they are ho what if one piece of kale could protect you from diabetes . What if one situp could prevent heart diseas one. Wishful thinking, right . But there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease. Pneumococcal pneumonia. 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Because why have ordrdary when you can have the best. Only egglands best. Better taste. Better nutrition. This is joanne. Her long day as a hair stylist starts with shoulder pain when. Hey joanne, want to trade the all day relief of 2 aleve with 6 tylenol . Give up my 2 aleve for 6 tylenol . No thanks. Were back now with the big changes announced for the oscars. After days of growing controversy over a lack of diversity in the nominations, the academy announced sweeping reforms to double the number of female and minority members, replacing inactive members for life with a younger generation. But will it be enough to tamp down this fear threatening to overshadow the hollywoods biggest night. Morgan radford has details from los angeles. Reporter overnight, a surprise vote by the academy. In a statement the president sherrill boon isaacs said the academy is going to lead an not wait for the industry to catch up. The goal, doubling the number of women and 2020. Here is how. Voting status will last ten years and could be renewed only if a member has been active over that decade. That means lifetime Voting Rights will be earned after three of the tenyear terms. Or if a member has won or been nominated for a oscar. Those not active under the guidelines will become emeritus members, they are part of the academy but cant vote. Hollywood critics say the changes are a step in the right direction. But the problem is bigger than the academy. If the industry it is the industry as a whole. Now stars are speaking out. Twotime oscar nominee viola davis said the problem is not with the oscars, it is with the hollywood movemaking system. Steven galloway said the academy could only move as fast as the industry. Until the industry allows africanamericans and asians and hispanics to create a extraordinary body of work, their hands are morgan radford, nbc news, los angeles. 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Washington pt reporter Jason Rezaian and his wife flewout of germany, accompanied by jeff bezos bezos. He flew the couple back on his private plane. Rezaian was freed last week after being held by iran for 18 months. When we come back, more on the snowstorm pounding its way up the east coast. Al roker will be back another day, and im still struggling with my diabetes. I do my best to manage. But its hard to keep up with it. Your body and your diabetes change over time. Your treatment plan may too. Know your options. Oncedaily toujeo is a longacting insulin from the makers of lantus. It releases slowly to provide consistent insulin levels for a full 24 hours. Toujeo also provides proven full 24hour blood sugar control and significant a1c reduction. Toujeo is a longacting, manmade insulin it contains 3 times as much insulin in 1 milliliter as standard insulin. Dont use toujeo to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if youre allergic to insulin. 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Also, 9 out of 10 Medicare Part d patients can get toujeo at the lowest branded copay. Ask your doctor about the proven full 24hour blood sugar control of toujeo. To folks out there whose abetic nerve pain. Shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. To everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hearou. Make sure your doctor hears you too i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. If you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or r nds, dont suffer in silence step on up anask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. Before we go, we want to check in with al roker one more time. The latest forecast in this blizzard of 2016. What will you be watching overnight as this develops . Not just the snow. But we are talking about the winds. They are going to cause big problems. 900 miles of snow from memphis to south of new york city. And as far as at cumulations are concerned, washington, baltimore, looks to be the big winner if you look at it that way. 18 to 26 inches, some areas could pick up to three feet of snow. Philadelphia, new jersey, surrounding areas picking up about 12 to 18. New york city looking generally at about six to 12 inches. Now were also watching the winds. They are going to start to develop as we wind speeds of over 50, 60 miles per hour, blowing and drifting ow causing bad visibility. And so we have coastal flood threats for beach erosion, beach flooding. A real mess, lester. This thing will end quickly, by sunday, it will start to have effects on into next week. Al, thanks. And more on the late local news and al will have more t torrow morning on today. That will do it for u on this friday night. Im lester holt, for all of us at nbc news,