minnesota alone saw 1128 spinouts and 50 wrecks. if a seattles, state of emergency. ice roads are not going anywhere soon. this is this is going to be an event that is going to continue through the weekend. and wind chills are going to be bone chilling. that s why this is a life-threatening event. and the biggest impact seemed to come from that bitter, bitter cold. the day started in chicago at negative 10 degrees. it warmed to a balmy plus 1 but the wind chill makes it feel like negative 21. great night for indoor live shot. mike tobin at o hare, thanks very much. take a look at the weather maps chief meteorologist rick reichmuth joins us from the weather center in new york. it is so cold and a lot of people without power. if you have neighbors and maybe a fireplace can you go get people over to your house. some people dealing with really dangerous cold temperatures and then potentially without power.
guys, is really not a major factor here. we ll see 4 to 6 inches but it is the winds and the temperatures. of course, when you have blizzard conditions like that, kicking up even a few inches of snow you could see drifting and dangerous conditions for travel. on the roads, going to be incredibly dangerous. people should stay off. those white out conditions you won t be able to see 5, 10, 15 feet in front of you. hundreds of flight cancellations already in the chicago area, at o hare in anticipation. amtrak has shut down lines and unfortunately guys, just a couple days before christmas and here we are with a lot of people that may be in a very nasty situation as you see behind me the magnificent mile, michigan avenue. the fleeting moments of shopping happening right now and we re going to be under the lock of mother nature in just a few hours, john.
some passengers told they could be here up to four days. this woman is five months pregnant and is concerned she may get caught in the storm. really worried. no one will help us. no one will talk to us. can t get through on the phone. reporter: meanwhile, the vast majority, 102 million americans are hitting the road. that drive fueled by falling gas prices, down 18 cents from a year ago. should they be traveling earlier to get to where they want to go for the holiday? if you have the flexibility to get in your car and leave earlier, try to do that this week. all right, maggie vespa joining us now from chicago s o hare airport. maggie, what other advice do travel experts offer? well, lester, they say definitely have a backup plan. check the forecast on your trip out and your trip back. the ripple effects of this storm could disrupt travel into early next week. lester? maggie vespa at o hare, thank you. and with this big
crist has at o hare. that s all i can say. reporter: it remains to be seen. thank you. thank you very much. trump s taxes, what we re learning from the report on the former the president s task returns and the dangerous precedent republicans warn this could set. could t.se the promise of america is freedom, equality, but right now, those pillars of our democracy are fragile
week and weekend ahead of us, on monday, nearly 1500 flights were canceled with over 8,000 delayed flights. some of the travel woes are weather related. we have seen what is happening in texas, but it is more than just weather. the ongoing travel issues are prompting the department of transportation now to take action. in a letter to airlines last week, the transportation secretary has warned of new rules that could be coming if airlines don t step up on their own. so joining me right now is transportation secretary pete buttigieg. secretary, thank you for being here. flight cancellations due to weather thank you. are unavoidable. flight cancellations because of staffing shortages are something very different. we saw that yesterday there were faa staffing issues at o hare, last week air traffic control staffing shortages causing delays at new york airports. why is this a problem still? so, what we re seeing is two