0 happening now, extreme winter. the dangerous conditions affecting millions of americans with another blast of snow on the horizon. what you need to know to weather the storm of the decade and also historic gridlock in america's airports. "crossfire" is off tonight so we can bring you the very latest on the weather and travel across the u.s. i'm brianna keilar, and you're in "the situation room." tonight, millions of americans are struggling to dig out and move on from one of the biggest snow and ice disasters in memory, but another storm is moving toward the east coast right now, and it's threatening to add to that danger and all the gridlock in the hardest-hit areas. a blizzard watch now has been issued for the coast of massachusetts. we're seeing is more frustrating cancellations and delays at some of the nation's biggest and busiest airports. this winter has been brutal for air travel with a record number of cancellations, apparently more than we've seen in a quarter century. cnn's rosa flores is standing by at laguardia in new york. but first reagan national airport outside of washington. >> brianna, yesterday was the single-worst travel day yet this winter. let me give you the numbers because it does show you how extensive all the delays and cancellations have been. in the last 36 hours there have been over 8,000 cancellations, but that doesn't even include, brianna, the delays. let me show you what people at reagan national are seeing. this is the board everyone fears seeing their flight up on. look at these cancellations and note that these are in the new york area. that's where we're still seeing a lot of the delays. a lot of travelers are frustrated. many spent the night in the airport and we're meeting a lot of travelers who are trying to get to their plans, one is arlene with me. she's trying to reunite with their family. they've not had a family reunion in a long time. she's trying to get to vermont for a ski vacation. tell me, how has it been? >> originally i was booked on a flight to go to albany where my parents would pick me up, but that flight got canceled. i couldn't find another flight out. the only other option was a flight that had four stops to get to albany. so finally i just decided to book on another airline flying to boston now where my sister's going to pick me up and we're going to drive all the way to vermont from boston. >> reporter: how confident are you that you'll arrive tonight and be able to enjoy your family vacation? >> the flight to boston got delayed 30 minutes. still hopeful that i'll get out. but you never know with this weather. >> reporter: you tell me one of the most frustrating parts of it is the way you felt you were treated on the phone. tell me about your experience. >> when i got the e-mail that it was canceled, they said call this number to rebook your flight. i was on hold for more than 45 minutes while i was at work trying to figure out all these plans. still never got to anybody, which is why i switched to a dirt airline. >> reporter: i think that's the frustration that many travelers are seeing. it's just a bad situation. >> that is terrible. fingers crossed for arlen. let's check in now at laguardia airport in new york where cnn's rosa flores is. a lot of delays over the course of the day there, rosa. >> you're absolutely right. those delays have been growing as the day has been progressing. now, i want to show you some pictures because one of our cnn colleagues is actually going from new york to atlanta, and this is what she saw. not only gates being changed last minute but then once she was on the plane, then, of course, delays there as well. if we look at the bigger picture, about 1400 flights delayed around the u.s. and when you talk about delays, hear this. i'm going to give you the latest number. 6,000 delays. and by far laguardia is not the worst airport. you can see on a misery map, which we always like to check on flight aware.com, ahead of us are two airports, laguardia is at number three right now. number one is charlotte international in north carolina, and then chicago o'hare. the good news is, of course, as the day progresses, also people are able to get out of the airport which is also nice because they finally get to their destination. delays here at laguardia going from an hour to an hour and 30 minutes all day long. right now we're at an hour and 13 minute delays. so brianna, if your cupid is airborne at this hour, that is good news because a lot of folks, of course, their flights were canceled or delayed. >> a lot of folks may be spending their valentine's day texting each other, wishing each other a happy valentine's day. rosa flores, thank you so much. let's bring in now the airline reporter for the associated press. you know, first, scott, thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> i want you to sort of explain these cancellations, why they're happening. because it isn't just the weather, right? >> yeah, this is a record number of cancellations out there. and yes, mother nature has a large part to play in it. there's been storm after storm after storm, but this is not just weather. the airlines are now proactively canceling flights days in advance. we knew two, three days ago that some night flights wouldn't be off today. that's a big change in the playbook over the last few years. they say it helps them reset eventually. there's a lot more pain up front but in the end when the weather does clear, more people get to where they need to go at a better time. you also have fewer people stuck on planes, sitting on the edge of the runway and even those folks who we remember sleeping on cots in airports, it's happened recently but not as bad as it was four, five years ago. >> if they're trying to avoid some of those horror stories of people stuck on the tarmac, you know, without any food for hours and hours, you're saying flights are more likely to be canceled. is this the passenger bill of rights actually backfiring? >> it's a little bit of a backfire there and a little bit of protection. i think it's a question of would you rather stay at home, get an e-mail from the airline saying we're sorry, we can't take you where you need to go today, or would you hope for that chance to get out, maybe sit on the edge of the runway for four or five hours, not have any water, have an airplane toilet that's unfortunately overflowing? which situation would you rather be in? so the airlines did warn us that things like this would happen when that bill went through, but i think a lot of passengers, well, depends on your situation, but a lot of them would not like to be in that horrible situation. >> scott, let me ask you about this. because we're hearing a lot of anecdotal evidence of people having really bad customer service experience. you probably heard arlen there at dca airport. she said i called for 45 minutes, couldn't get anyone, had to go with a different airline. in the end, she just gave up. our executive producer of this very program, his flight to new york was canceled. he was given sort of a bogus reasoning for why. is there a customer service problem here, too? >> part of it is just a lack of information, to be honest. airlines have these incredible war rooms. it looks a little bit like nasa mission control. and they have everything you ever wanted to know about a flight, how many are on time, how many are delayed, how long some of them have been sitting out on the runway. the problem is not all that information gets to the people who need to know it. so the gate agents, the reservation agents, the people on the phone with customers don't necessarily know that information. i was flying the other week, and i got text messages from my airline every ten minutes telling me about a delay. i was pushed back, 20 minutes, then another 30, then another 10. it took me three phone calls to get someone on the phone who knew what was actually happening with that plane and willing to find that information. and once i learned it was a mechanical problem, i said, great, can you find me another seat and get me out of here? >> i want some news that you can use for our viewers here because so many of them will have been affected, scott. if you're impacted by these cancellations, what do you do as a consumer? >> there's not tons you can do. you are really at the mercy of the airline but start looking at other options. if you can afford it, look for another airline. if your flight is canceled, you can get a refund. then find options that you can present to someone when you finally do get through on the phone. so if that's a strange rerouting through arizona to get to seattle, go for it. try twitter. the airlines have been backed up with twitter, but you'd be surprised it actually does work. go ahead, spend the 25 or $50 to get a day pass to an airline lounge. it's actually a good way to get through to some people. the best agents are there. and then finally try calling that international phone number of the airline. you can find them online. they'll cost you a little bit extra, but you will get through to agents in europe or asia who aren't dealing with so many stranded travelers. >> i love it, scott, working around the system. call the international number. that's fantastic. scott mayewicz. up next, president obama is in california at this hour to meet with local farmers who are struggling with a huge problem right now. drought is killing crops and their livelihoods and that means that you will pay more at the grocery store. we're also taking a closer look at extreme weather patterns from droughts to blizzards and also how they're connected. iwe don't back down. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.