In new york, and massachusetts and connecticut and rhode island and New Hampshire and across the region, 650,000 homes and businesses are without power this morning. New york mayor Michael Bloomberg urged people to stay off of the roads, but the long island expredzway is littered with cars that became stuck overnight. New england is getting the brunt of the snow with two feet of snow in boston. And Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has banned every vehicle on every road in the state. And the snow is creating a travel nightmare for passengers with more than 5 sthou flights cancelled already. We will have updates throughout the show this morning, but now we are turning to a threat that is more manmade than naturemad naturemade, and that is the threat of war. This mile an houring, i wa inii morning i want to direct your attention to a little skirmish in the china sea and the bbc it is calling it a little skirmish that could have big, big consequences, think world war iii consequences,
400,000 outages. Rhode island has nearly 173,000 without power. Connecticut more than 38,000 outages. Other states fared a little bit better. Even though new york area airports began receiving flights today, the Ripple Effects across this country, airlines cancelling more than 5300 flights this week. And reporter Jonathan Hall from our nbc affiliate whdh was on the coast in massachusetts as the high tide came in. Reporter the water has definitely come up. Id say a good three or four inches just in the last ten minutes or so. And the National Guard is here on the scene helping people evacuate. No mandatory evacuations at hall, but they are strongly urged. People in lowlying areas, areas that normally flood, are told get out. And now it might be too late. Weve definitely got the high tide flowing in here at hall. Were going to check in with reporters throughout the region today. Nbcs ron allen is in connecticut. Were beginning with nbcs ron mott in prof dend, rhode island. Ron it was pre
Pakistan and elsewhere have been innocent civilians, mothers, children, young and old men in the wrong place at the wrong time. They have implement add rigorous screening process at the white house deciding who ends up on the list. The president approaches the program with solemnity and care and the policy has been efficient and effective in decimating al qaeda and other terrorist groups. Its been said, quote, the enemy is really, really struggling. These atakes have produced the broadest, deepest, and most rapid reduction in al qaeda Senior Leadership that weve seen in several years. My partner Michael Isikoff outfound a memo that outlines why they believe they have the legal thoort authority to use force. At thursdays confirmation hearings for his nomination to head up the cia, white house counterterrorism director raised questions about the memo and the programs it helps justify. Your view seems to be that even if we could save american lives by containing more american terrorists b
Capital in this must have pomp and circumstance. President obamas first state of the union since his reelection will be ambitious in his vision and no doubt punctuated. Maybe some of us watching at home will be applauding. If you are near a television, the state of the union will be unavoidable. The networks and cable news will, as always, broadcast walltowall coverage of the speech. The attention given to the president s speech is indicative of everything that falls under the category, very important things required by the constitution. Have you ever noticed how the constitution described the state of the union . You might be surprised to find the founders are vague and sound bored with the whole idea of it. Article two, Section Three reads he shall from timetotime give to the Congress Information of the state of the union. Recommend to their consideration such measures as he may judge necessary and expedient. He may. On extraordinary occasions, convene both houses or either of them.
Here and buried areas of snow. Were at laguardia. People filing through here most of the day. A handful of cancellations here at the airport. Overall, just fewer than 600 airports around the country. That is a far cry from the last few days. Air travel as well as road travel frozen in time. The monster storm blizzard literally stopped vehicles in their tracks. Snow all over the place. Reporter along the long island expressway and ramps, frustration and a trail of scattered vehicles. Some remain abandoned in drifts. How do i get out of this mess . Reporter dozens of drivers had to be rescued after spending part or all night in bonechilling temperatures. In connecticut and rhode island, phones are finally open this morning after crews plowed the 30plus inches of snowfall. We had no snow for multiple years. Everybody forgot how to drive in it. Now that we finally get it, nobody know how to drive in it or manage it. Reporter crews cleared snow from the tracks, but so far amtrak is not resu