cutting covid quarantine from 10 to 5 days may be premature, we begin this hour with the winter storm plowing across the eastern united states. right now more than 80 million people on winter weather alerts across the east, the storl will exit the south tonight and march across new england across the southeast some 180,000 homes and businesses without power, trees brought down, heavy winds and the rate of freezing rain and snow as well, and across the country, traffic snarled on this day before the martin luther king jr. holiday, flights ka canceled today and many delays. not used to snow, let alone this much, right? >> reporter: that's right, and underneath all this snow is a lot of ice, the word of the day has been travel. air travel, with more than 90% of the flights out of the charlotte's airport cancelled but if you look at the live drone footage showing the interstates around charlotte, it's the roads, all across the state at this point, more than 200 accidents throughout this storm today and the fear is there could be more and even more concerning for officials is that they're down in staffing, warning people it may be even longer before they can plow roads and get roadways clear. >> travel will be a major concern. we've got d.o.t. trucks along with north carolina national guard, governor activated 224 national guardsman, along with the forest service to prepare for transportation issues, debris clearance, a key thing, support wheel drive ambulances, just to prepare for some of the response operations. >> now, going into tonight, and in the morning, the concern is that these flurries that are falling now and any sort of rain or sleet that's going to be continuing throughout the night will freeze overnight and people who may try to travel in the morning will unexpectedly run into more frozen conditions as well, poppy, those power outages more than 90,000 attributed to the storm across the state of north carolina so far. >> wishing everyone safety as they deal with this. thank you for your reporting. let's follow the path of the storm and head north. paula sandoval with pittsburgh tonight, what is expected, the snowing last hour, talked to you there, how prepared are they? >> reporter: a little more ice now too poppy and look, residents here obviously are used to the snow but we saw here, specifically in pittsburgh, earlier this month, the city was basically caught off guard, an action, at least response fell short according today mayor so they're really boosting efforts to make sure the roads are as clear as possible but really is an up hill battle at the rate of snow and ice we're seeing. couple of hours ago, you could still see the surface of the road but see the snow certainly intensified, the national weather service expecting us to see snow and ice accumulating about an inch an hour so that's certainly concerning for those officials who are going to be out and about, those first responders obviously that have to be on the roads. really the big message we're getting from folks throughout the northeast and spiecifically here in pennsylvania is urging pennsylvania residents to simply stay off the road. it is holiday weekend so that will certainly help but nonetheless, folks who still have to go into work tomorrow so that is a lot of it, and the potential to refreesz in the morning is a big area of concern that's why big focus is not just on the side streets experiencing trouble a couple of weeks ago but those major highways they hope will be as clear as possible to allow for morning travel tomorrow. >> thank you to you and your team being out there, i've been out there many a time in the snow and ice. thank you very much. >> reporter: thanks, poppy. >> to cnn weather center, m meteorologist joins us, this storm, bringing violent weather interestingly to south florida. tornados? >> right, we had two of them. we'll talk about the snow and ice in a minute, we can put up with snow and rain and coastal flooding but there's so much cold air with this all the way down into florida it did become violent. you see the big comma shape here, but to florida, it was 7:00 in the morning we had our first tornado warning, this is a 12 hour animation, moved through into the boahamas but let me shw you. this is two areas, one is charlotte county with an ef-1, 7 in the morning, that was sustainable damage to several homes, no injuries, however, 30 minutes, 35 minutes later, at 7:35 a.m. only lasted five minutes but this is ef-2, last time an ef-2 during the month of january in florida was six years ago so the video is just amazing, you see the debris coming out of this funnel. what we do have, unfortunately, three mobile home communities, 108 damaged homes, 30 demolished i mean off their slabs and have three injuries, no fatalities at this point, at least that area of severe weather is over with. now we got the warnings, no more ice warnings in area of south carolina but the snow is cranking and here begins its trip up the appalachian chain close to i-95 looking at rain fall, but notice washington and baltimore your snow will start to mix, that's a sign of it trying to get warmer. new york city looking at probably a burst of snow before it changes over to rain, but inland, poppy, it is all snow and we could see easily, eight, 12, 15 inches of snow fall. the good news, it moves out and lifts but with the winds, you know, blizzard strength here, visibility will be low. don't drive anywhere tomorrow, let the crews do their job but at least it's rain for the major cities, take more for philadelphia. >> mean time, in the aftermath of yesterday's hostage crisis in texas, we're learning more about the british national who came to the congregation, beth israel, during services and led to a siege that went on for 11 hours. following all the developments in the united kingdom. >> re >> poppy, black burn in the north of england, uk authorities pretty much from the opening statements of this investigation have been assisting with information in terms of the global aspects of this particular investigation. the uk foreign secretary called this attack both an act of terror and an act of antisemitism and we also heard, though, from the families. namely, the brother of fa faizel achram posting on a facebook page for the blackburn community, how the family were devastated by the loss of their brother and how they apologized to the families of the victims caught up in this hostage seize. also said their brother had in their opinion, mental health issues and had been in contact with the police during the investigation and the hostage negotiations. now, of course, uk authorities have been working now with the u.s. counterpart to see dig into the travel, the communications, everything, frankly, about fizel achram as it currently stands, president biden himself saying it is unclear what his motivation was at this stage. my colleague josh campbell hearing from u.s. law enforcement services this may not have been an individual with much about him on a day to day basis, with much information on the u.s. and british side of things, not much evidence of him as someone they had in their data bases in the past so a lot to think now i think will be focusing on his behavior, some of the incoherent you may have heard in the recordings of him speak, lack of sfophistication around that plot, may lead some to agree with his family's assessment of mental health issues but a focus now on what the uk can provide the u.s. investigation, what can be discovered at this stage as well and, of course, whether there is any potential on going threat or wider network. although, at this point, no public statement to see that effect, poppy. >> nick, thank you very much for that reporting. when we come back, ukraine accusing russia of a huge cyber attack on its government. i'll ask if the u.s. is getting mired in another cold war. plus, new data suggesting that cutting covid quarantine from 10 days to five could have been premature. dr. randy here and reform ahead of critical vote in the senate. you're here in cnn newsroom. ♪ ♪ find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com for back pain, i've always been a take two and call in the morning guy. but my new doctor recommended salonpas. without another pill upsetting my stomach, i get powerful, effective and safe relief. salonpas. it's good medicine. exploring the heart of historic europe with viking, you'll get closer to iconic landmarks, to local life and legendary treasures as you sail onboard our patented, award-winning viking longships. you'll enjoy many extras, including wi-fi, cultural enrichment from ship to shore and engaging excursions. viking - voted number one river cruise line by condé nast readers. learn more at viking.com. can dove stop 98% of daily hair damage? 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i'm not seeing a lot of details or action to could deter him from that critical step. this would be the largest invasion in europe since world war ii. that's how big of a deal this is. >> last week, with russian troops parked at the border, several ukrainian websites targeted in a cyber taattack, saying russia is most likely responsible and this goes on. pentagon now says it has information to use operatives to make people believe ukraine is starting trouble just to justify an invasion. security adviser john bolton lays out in a new op-ed that is russia really laying out an all out attack on ukraine. putin himself may not know his final objective, channel to biden may be a political reconnaissance, will the west show a lock of resolve, and where? will it start to fragment? with some members attaching to lower priority to some territories or issues than russia does. i guess i would begin, ambassador, i wonder if you agree with congressman. >> i agree with congressman's assessment, personally, i don't like the word applied with russia today, it was a unique to the circumstances dealing with the soviet union. we are clearly in a great adversarial situation with both of them and not prepared with either one frankly. >> you wrote recently of the biden administration's threat to russia, should it move on ukraine, quote, moscow heard it all before and responded by forme formerly annexing crimea, anything biden administration can do to deter or is this a question of when not if? >> i think there is more, i think the problem with what biden has done so far is simply threaten actions, primarily economic sanctions after russian troops crossed the border and as you indicated, i think putin discounted that, so even if biden is serious, putin may not think he's serious based on past performance, so what you need to do is change putin's cost-benefit analysis before troops start to move. i would surge weapon supplies to ukrainians, put u.s. and nato forces on the ground in ukraine, not to fight, but to train and work with the ukrainian forces. we have some already, but i would increase that substantially so russian commander advise to worry about what they're going to do when they see americans and more than almost anything else, i would put whatever pressure we can on germany and the european union now. again, close off the nordstream 2 pipe line until russia withdraws all of its forces currently outside its borders in countries that don't want them like georgia, like muldova, like ukraine, a lot of things we could do now to change putin's assessment. >> i'm glad you bring up the pipe line, because just listening to jake sullivan, national security adviser for biden again on friday, here's what he said about the pipeline because the u.s. continues to believe it has all the leverage now in the pipeline, germany says don't worry about it, it has nothing to do with russrus russia/ukraine in this conflict and russia says it has the leverage, this is what jake sullivan said. >> there's no gas going through the nordstream 2 pipe line, there won't be for months a the least and we made clear to the russians, that pipeline is at ri risk if they move further into ukraine, that is leverage, for us, right now. >> who has leverage with the pipeline? >> i think what he said demonstrates why putin is not deterred, he's talking about doing something if the russians move my point s the effect of deterrence stops them from moving in the first place. i think the administration made a big mistake in opposing ted cruz's amendment to cut off and impose sanctions, to be frank, i think the administration made a mistake not getting sanctions in place when it was in office, but it is still not too late, but you need to stop putin before the hostilities begin, not threatening with what you're going to do after they begin. >> right. one of the points you made in a recent piece in the last few weeks that struck me and i think is not getting enough attention or discussion is nato. right? and you're right, nato must urgently develop a strategy for the nonnato former soviet states. it's unsufficient to say we have no treaty obligation to defend them which ignores strategic reality, just because there's sort of no article 5 obligation to come to the denfense. so what are you suggestic nato do at this point? >> well, something we should have all done years and years ago, so there's collective blame here, but nato's expansion didn't have a clear end point and as a result, we've got a number of countries, moldova, belarus, ukraine, ajerbaijan caught in a gray zone between nato's eastern border and russia's western border and that ambiguity is something putin is playing on right now. so while nato develops a strategy to deter putin from taking aggressive action against ukraine in particular or any of the others, we need to have a better strategic focus on who we're prepared to have in, or who we're prepared, at least, to extend some protection to to prevent russian belligerance that threatens nato members and if you don't think nato members are threatened now, ask lithuania, poland and others, they're right there, they know the threat they're facing and therefore, all of nato is facing. >> also speaking about the region, turn to the situation in kazakhstan, you wrote about in the washington journal this week, kazakhstan's troubles afford him, meaning putin's significant possibilities, the state department's statement on the situations last week said it condemns the acts of violence and destruction of property by both the authorities and the protesters. what do you think the statement department is missing here at least given its initial response where they're calling on essentially both sides. >> well, sadly, that statement didn't surprise me. that's typical of the state department. it's a classic case of moral equivalence, as if the demonstrators who were protesting the conditions inside kazakhstan are somehow equivalent to the government repressing them from expressing their view points. people interpreted the, what happened in kazakhstan as weakness for putin that he had to deploy troops to help secure the new kazak government, i think it's exactly the opposite. this is the first time this loose treaty organization that russia organized has acted together. he has now, a paradigm he can follow, got an invitation to intervene militarily in the affairs of a former soviet republic. i think he can take invitations in the future to justify other interventions, i think the other four states in the former central asian republics are now very worried about what just happened in kazakhstan. we know what putin thinks his ultimate objective is, called the break-up of the soviet union the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century and trying to reverse it. how he does it? he's calling the shots, got the momentum, he's making the moves and we're simply reacting. i just have a feeling this isn't going to end well if we don't get our act together very quickly. >> ambassador, i want to get your reaction to some breaking news that just crossed a moment ago actually during this interview and that is north korea launched a possible ballistic missile into the sea of japan, report we have this comes after three times in the last two weeks, north korea test firing more missiles. what is your reaction to this news in the midst of what we've seen from north korea just recently? >> well i just wrote an article for the website 1945.com about north korean testing. you know, sometimes these tests are tests because they want to perfect their targeting, they need to work on getting reentry vehicle that is can survive coming back into the earth's atmosphere and have nuclear warheads still viable. this is, this is a result of three administrations in a row that have badly mishandled north korea, they are very close to getting their long-sought objective of deliverable nuclear weapons that can hit the united states. our options are limited but it requires very strong action. we're now nearly a year into the biden administration, and they have done effectively nothing. >> your advice to the biden administration on north korea would be what, then, i remember president obama warning incoming president trump of north korea, right? think this is going to be the biggest challenge on your hands? >> and the trump administration very badly mishandled it by thinking it could negotiate a deal with the likes of kim jong un, i think the most important thing we can do is say to china, with the unique capability to bring north korea's economy to its knees that we hold china responsible for finding an answer to the north korean nuclear program. that's the best, the least dangerous way to do it, for far too long we've treated china as just another interested party. i think china's the causal factor here, along with russia, and i think we need to get that front and center with them. >> ambassador bolton, thank you so much for the time tonight, it's great to have you. >> thank you, glad to be with you. more breaking news on what we just reported on north korea when we get back. also ahead, the administration's top doctor has a warning, do not expect omicron to ease up anytime soon. dr. megan ranning joins me to talk about it. with clean, fresh ingredients, panera's new chicken sausage and pepperoni flatbread is a mouthwatering explosion of yes. craft? 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>> the truth is, pamela, it's about covid the straw breaking the camel's back but it's about everything else. the fact that we've been putting off preventative surgeries for more than a month now in my hospital system, that means people with heart problems, cancer, or other things that really need to get operated on aren't having the chance to have surgery and see more likely to end up in the e.r. not from covid but from other problems. it's the fact that we don't have enough mental health workers or social workers, and so folks are ending up, again, in the emergency department with mental health crises that could be prevented. what we really need when omicron starts to fade which it is already startish to do in parts of the northeast is double down on fixing the system, getting more nurses, more cnas, more social workers, more physical therapists, train them out, and providing preventative care so we stop filling e.r.s with things that could be handles in other ways. >> we have to go in 30 seconds, but my question to you on this new study that came out calling into question whether just isolating for five days, as the cdc now changes guidance to is really enough when it comes to omicron, the study found people with omicron are staying contagious for much longer. so given that, how long do you think people should isolate with omicron? 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(laughter) a stove that inspires magnificent hot cocoa. and a perfect ski-in ski-out. but the thing they'll remember forever? grandpa coming out of retirement to give a few ski lessons. the time to plan your get together is now. find it on vrbo. welcome back, as president biden marked one year in office this week, his domestic agenda hit a brick wall. in just the past new days, supreme court broke down his vaccination mandate. inflation hit another 40 year high and voting rights bills appear to be on the cusp of defeat. now polling shows it takes a toll on the president's popularity, down 18 points since the spring. to talk about it, republican strategist al stewart and democratic strategist ma maria cordona. thank you, it's been a minute. >> great to see you poppy. >> that is not a great week, maria, any way you cut it. how do you turn the ship around? >> you're right, it was absolutely not a good week, but what the white house is going to do and should continue to do is to talk about the historic accomplishments he had in his very first year as president. it is hard, poppy, because of politics, with everyone's attention spans you only remember what just happened in the past day or the past week. but what the white house needs to continue to underscore is what he has done in the past year. 6.4 million jobs have been created, poppy, a historic achievement. no other president in his first year has ever done that. wages are going up, the unemployment rate is at an all-time low at 3.8. he is dealing with inflation, putting out policies. in fact, you know, many economists have said, if we were able to pass build back better, that would reduce inflationary pressures on our economy. he has to continue to talk about these things -- >> i hear you, maria, but a little pushback there, there are also economists who say that much additional spending right now could also increase inflation and in terms of the job numbers, also i hear you, but no one has ever come out of a pandemic like this. i mean, that's part of so many people out of work, going back to work i guess, but i wonder maria how can you just focus on the past when you have the multiple significant defeats in the last week. don't you need to talk about how we turn around on those? >> no question about that, poppy, and i'm not just saying we should focus on the past. in fact, he needs to use those ka ka accomplishments as foundations to convince the public how to deal with the difficulties we saw the past week. you know, this white house is not looking at this through rose-colored glasses. they understand the difficulties they're facing. this is what it means to govern, poppy, this is not a president that sits in his office watching television for five hour and see then tweeting for the next five. he is actually governing and he is hoping that democrats, as well as republicans will actually join him in focusing on the solutions that we need like, for example, protecting voting rights. it is a shame that not one republican in congress will look at what happened in the past election where you had people waiting in line for eight hours, especially in communities of color and think that that's okay. we need to fix those things, and that's what the white house is going to be focusing on moving forward. >> alice, obviously, one of the biggest issues on everyone's mind continues to be coronavirus. let's take a look at biden's polling on this, at 67% on this topic in the spring, now sits at 49%. what is the winning republican message on covid that they can argue we would do better? i get the -- i mean, testing is a big issue, and let's hope that turns around. the white house needs to get more in front of that, but how does this play in terms of republicans messaging going into the midterms? >> clearly, if we can, poppy, go back and replay what maria said, it's been a really bad week for the biden administration, but on the covid issue, look, the republicans have a lot of success with regard to the previous administration in terms of getting the vaccines out in a quick manner and a sufficient way and operation warpspeed was very successful in addressing covid and that's something really important. not to harp on the biden administration, but they have not done a good job with regard to covid, and the testing, as well as the vaccines, and encouraging people across the board to get -- >> well what do you mean specifically, wait, wait, i mean, repeatedly, from the biden administration we heard get vaccinated, boost, boost, boost, and you do have a number of republicans, alice, apologies, who oppose the vaccine mandates biden administration is pushing so what specifically are you talking on the vaccine front? >> the point with that is joe biden campaigned on a large part one saying we'll put the covid pandemic behind us and we certainly have not. >> okay, but you would concede on the vaccine front they've done just about everything they possibly can to get everyone to get vaccinated, right? i'll give you on testing, but -- >> in terms of the vaccine, i am encouraged and have praised them many times for encouraging people to get vaccines and get boosters, however, the numbers have not matched what, where we should be. and let me also just touch on -- >> do you think some republicans, republican politicians bear responsibility for that? in terms of not being as vocal as they could about encouraging vaccinations? >> look, this is, should not be a political issue. this is a healthcare issue. and anyone, and yes, we have seen many on the right who have made this a political issue. it shouldn't be that way. this should have always been about get the vaccines, get your boosters, you wear masks where necessary, also use safe distancing, and i do have praised the biden administration for working also with governors across the country to make sure we increase vaccines, but look -- covid is one aspect of why this administration has seen such low approval ratings. the economy has been abysmal over the last several months and is not a temporary issue. they've been saying the economy or inflation is a transitory, or temporary issue, this is long-term. that's why we see many polling numbers, 33%, and another problem we have with the biden administration as someone who campaigned on unity and has done nothing to unify this country and certainly within his own party. poll numbers show almost half of americans say he has done more to not unify this country and that is a big factor with joe biden, not being able to get a lot of what he has said he wants to get done done. >> what poll is that, alice, i hadn't seen that one? the quinipe act poll, numbers show joe biden -- you can call it what you want, but the fact is 50% of americans say that joe biden has done more to break this country apart and not unify which is one of the big foundations that he ran on and if he does not get inflation under control and the economy back on track, and covid in the rear view mirror, this is going to be a very bad midterm election for the democrats and going to be a positive one for republicans. >> way over time, so next time, first word to maria and i'll say less. >> let's do it. >> great to see you ladies, thanks very much. tomorrow the nation marks martin luther king jr. day as the voting debate in this country echos his battle decades ago. king's son will tell us what his father would think about now. >> disappointment, yes he would be greatly disappointments and say that america must and will do better. 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>> he never gave in and gave out, but disappointment yes, he'd be greatly disappointed and say that america must and will do better. he would never have accepted what we're going through at this point. >> reporter: king hoped bringing president biden to georgia the epicenter of the voting rights battle would have put enough pressure on the few democratic senators holding up voting rights legislation to relent. >> pass the freedom to vote act. >> reporter: following biden's fiery address, i sat down on the front porch of the home where martin luther king junior was born with his son martin iii his wife andrea and the president of the national urban league. king shared the private conversation he had with the president earlier that day. what did you tell him? >> we talked about literally the full faith of the white house. we saw you do that with infras infrastructure. we want to see you do that for the right to vote. >> i've been having these quiet conversations with members of congress for the last two months. i'm tired of being quiet. >> reporter: do any of you share that sentiment? tired of the president being quiet? i mean, he said he was tired of being quiet. >> yes, we're tired of him being quiet as he's tired of beiing quiet and it's time to elevate this battle, elevate this fight to what it is and that's a fight for the future of this nation. >> reporter: 80-year-old jesse jackson that marched with king for civil and voting rights more than a half century ago also attended biden's speech and believes the on going battle for the ballot is worth it. >> we have an obligation to fight back to save the country is really the right to vote. >> reporter: why are you so optimistic? >> my back is against the wall. there is no future in hopelessness. we will keep hope alive. >> reporter: king was encouraged by biden's call to lower the senate's 60 vote threshold to get national voting rights legislation passed but at the same time, realistic about his chances of getting the necessary approval. >> i can't say even today my own self-i'm confident that it will pass. but the fact of the matter is if you continue down the pathway that it feels like we've gone down you're definitely doomed. >> reporter: two days later back in washington, king's fears after democratic senator kyrsten sinema announced she wouldn't support changing the filibuster rules. king said history would remember sinema unkindly and her home state could pay. >> arizona was one of the last states to pass the king holiday bill and one thing that happened is the super bowl was removed. >> reporter: saturday the king family will mark king's birthday in arizona to keep up the pressure on voting rights and on monday, the mlk day holiday, their fight is in the nation's capital where they're asking americans across the country to honor king by promoting voting rights and legislation. >> all heirs to what he stood and fought and died for and i think what we're simply saying is that this is a time, this is the day of action. >> thank you so much for that reporting. ahead, freezing rain, snow, ice slamming millions of people in the eastern part of the country. we'll take you live to cities dealing with the storm and show you how hard it will hit here in the cnn newsroom. yes to new inventions! yes to clean and fresh ingredients! and yes to living life to the flavor-fullest. panera. live your yes. now $1 delivery. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette tonight, millions of americans hunkering down as a vicious winter storm pummels the united states causing mass power outages. >> if you hadn't already, now is the time to get prepared. this storm is a menace. and hostages safely rescued after a near 11-hour ordeal at a texas synagogue. a hero rabbi is praised by the community. >> the rabbi is genuinely the best human i think anyon