Spring may be less than four weeks away, but right now a huge swath of the country has taken a onetwo punch from old man winter with whiteout conditions making travel impossible in some areas, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is warning weary residents not to underestimate this storm. This one has the potential in the number areas of our state to be much more severe than even the last one. And we dont have the margins we had last time. The ditches are full of snow so you cant throw it off as quick or as easy. So this one could be much more treacherous to travel in. Nbcs jay gray has the latest now from wichita, kansas. Reporter the wintry attack on the midwest was at times relentless. Some folks have 10, 12, 13 inches of snow, lots of 8, 9, sixfoot drifts out in the texas panhandle. Reporter so deerngs the National Guard was called in to help reach dozens of stranded tourists. Hurricanes force winds. Well step outside and let you see what its like so far. Reporter whiteout conditions the National Weather service described as a crippling historic blizzard. The storm pounded oklahoma as well with more than a foot of snow in several areas there. And as it moved into kansas its pretty bad coming into the interstate. Reporter many rushed for lastminute supplies preparing for the second winter blast in four days. Theres nothing else we can do, so you just get through it. Reporter the challenge that the snow continues to increase across the region. On the heels of a tenday recess congress is staring down a busy week ahead. Today, the senate is expected to vote on whether to move forward on chuck hagels nomination as secretary of defense. Chicago voters in congressman Jesse Jackson jr. s district will brave the snow to replace him. If the Senate Finance Committee Approves jack lew as the trek social secretary today a full senate vote could come as early as tomorrow. On top of all that, could lawmakers have the sequester 75 billion in spending cuts. Nbcs tracie potts is live in washington with the answer and more on that. Reporter mara, good morning. Still no negotiations going on here in public here or behind the scenes. Congress now back in session, but really no talks going on between them and the white house. President obama today heads to virginia where hell speak at a ship builder concerned about jobs. They have job keshgzs in all 50 states. And the president is being criticized by house republicans, especially House Speaker john boehner for not staying in washington. But as were telling you there are serious differences on how to get rid of these deficits and to prevent the budget cuts from happening on friday. Lot of emphasis now, especially at airports. Not only will travelers be affected but one of the big concerns is air Traffic Controllers being placed on furlough, overnight shifts being limit made at a lot of small airports. Turning now to a developing story, at least 19 tourists were killed in a fiery hot air balloon crash in egypt. As the balloon approached the ancient city of luxor, south of cairo, an on board canister caused the balloon to plunge about 1,000 feet into a sugar cane field. The victims include tourists from china, japan, britain and france. The reservation of the highest ranking Catholic Leader in britain said he will not vote at the upcoming enclave to pick the new pope. Scotlands Cardinal Keith obrien resigned. The vatican says Pope Benedict accepts the cardinalss resignation because hes near the age of 75, not because of accusations. Today marks the oneyear anniversary of the tragic shooting death of 17yearold trayvon martin. A million hoodie gathering is scheduleded here in new york city. The teen was shot by george zimmerman, a Neighborhood Watch volunteer. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set to start in june. In california, the search continues this morning for four people whose 29foot sailboat disappeared off the coast of monterey. The distress call believed to be made by a man with his wife, son and a young cousin before they abandoned the sinking vessel. We are ban donning the ship. We are abandoning the ship. The voters said their electronics were failing and they were fashioning a makeshift raft. Officials hope the call will lead to new information that can aid in their search. For more on the weather heres nbcs meteorologist dylan dreyer. Good morning. Its got its sights set on the midwest with heavy, heavy snow falling across northern missouri and kansas city. Well most likely end up with another foot of snow on top of the last week. Amarillo, texas. The second snow west day theyve seen with 19 inches of snow reported yesterday. So you can see that the heaviest of the snow is continuing through kansas, through missouri. And thats where we do still have winter storm warnings. Blowing snow is creating still those blizzard warnings across portions of oklahoma. We also, with this storm system, actually have tornado watches posted down across the panhandle of florida. And some of these storms will produce torrential downpours. But the heaviest of the snower the blinding snow, is occurring back through kansas city and right through central missouri. Thats where were seeing the dividing line between the torrential rains and the heavy downpours of snow. Again, we could see a foot of snow of course portions of missouri. Thats a look at your national forecast. Now heres a look at the weather outside your window. Philadelphia will start to see rain move in but not until later on this evening with highs topping out in the upper 40s. Tampa, florida will see a round of severe. 77 for the high. Cleveland, that wintry mix. So in the great lakes region, that snow will start to move in. We could see perhaps up to three to six inches in the chicago area as we go into tonight. Thanks so much, dylan. Well, can stocks rally after yesterdays major dropoff . Plus, a diet that will ward off heart attacks and strokes. And iran photoshops the first lady. Well tell you why in two minutes. Youre watching early today. Welcome back. Here are some other stories that were watching today. The regime of syrian president Bashar Al Assad said its prepared to hold talks with armed rebels. The New York Times reports saudi arabia has financed a later pat of infantry weapons in an effort to break the stalemate. The wife of Roberto Goulet charged with trying to kidnap and eat woman. Kathryn described how she discovered her husbands alleged canal ballism plans when she looked through his lapstop. Dr. C. Everett koop has died. He served during the reagan and bush administration. Is best money for the work to cut smoking. And to battle aids. Michelle obama showed off her bare arms sunday night while giving the oscar for argo. Iran decided to photo shop a new outfit on the physical lady complete with sleeves. A new study finds a diet rich in olive oil, nuts, fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of heart attack and strokes by 30 . Stocks dropped on news of turmoil in italy. The dow closed 13,784. The s p 500 dropped down 27 and the nasdaq 45. Neek ke mrument ed 263 points while the hang seng tumbled 300. Dead mark elections in italy panicked investors monday with fears without a steady government italy wont be able to tackle its major recession. The domino effect sparked volume on the volatility index. Today, investors are looking for ben bernanke to supply soothing words about his easy money policies. On the radar home depot may seize auto zone. And it fell after meeting accredit dags poses. The first witness is expected to take the stand in bps gulf oil disaster. Protesters gathered outside of court monday as opening stap ii statements got under way. On the heels informing employees he can no longer work at home. Working is not 9 00 to 5 00, companies who do not embrace this are missing a trick. Musical downloaders are soon going to be hearing from their music providers. A number of Companies Included comcast, parent of this network will begin a sixstrike policy under the policy this week. And honesty is the best policy. People have paid it forward to a homeless panhandler who gave back a lost Engagement Ring with more than 50,000 in donations. Straight ahead, tom and gisele may have to tighten their budget. A heartless attack on an aquarium. And manti teos performance leaves much to be desired at the nfl combines. Those stories and much more coming up. Welcome back. Now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. We start in the gulf of mexico where the demolition of abandoned oil rigs is killing thousands of ready snapper and destroying sea life habitat. The socalled explosive disposal is part of the federal Government Program aimed at destroying rigs. Officials within the gulf coast fishing and Diving Industries say they want it to stop. In florida, a purchase suit caught on dash cam. A state trooper had to force a driver to spin out. The 18 was arrest for dui. In massachusetts, thieves robs a pet store. 25 tropical fish and 40 coy died one fish that bears a resemblance to nemo survived in a half inch of water. In texas speeding caused one motorist to launch into a house. The driver lost control or went airborne after hitting a curve at high speeds. The driver was hospitalized in stable condition but no one inside the home was hurt. Thankfully. Finally new york state assemblyman dov hikind is apologizing for wearing black face to a party. He wore it to celebrate a holiday but was surprised by the attention. Really . In 2013 . In sports first to college basketball, number 6 kansas against unranked iowa state. With the score tie the cyclones missed the last minute of regulation sending them intoover time. Jayhawks poured it on over iowa state. Number 12 syracuse facing number 22 marquette, running down todd mayo with a threepointer. Marquette wins the 24th straight game at home upsetting the orange 7471. New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady agreed to a contract attention that pace him only 9 million per season. Thats less than half the 20 million that top quarterbacks are making. Brady and his wife Supermodel Gisele bundchen may have to cut back on a few luxuries but the deal cleared 420 million from the deals salary cap. Linebacker manti teo was slow on the 40yard dash. The subpar workout coming less than a month as teos relationship with a girl friend was exposed as a hoax. Also at the combine, a south miss linebacker Jamie Collins make the the longest broad jump of 11feat 7 inches Barkevious Mingo had the best at 37 inches. Payton may need help with binoculars using them backwards. An a Controversial Photo has gone viral. It shows three High School Students wearing white hoods resembling kkk costumes in grand for, north dakota. The school said the students were disciplined. And in a game until dubuque, iowa, an amazing buzzer beating. Mason gave his team the shot to win in a moment they will surely never forget. Early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray. Just ahead, Jennifer Lawrences major transformation just 24 hours after oscar. Youre watching early today. Good morning. Welcome back. We are keeping an eye in the kansas city area. 32 degrees right now. You go southeast of that, thats where were seeing heavy rain. You go northwest of that, that is where we are seeing heavy snow. Up to a foot of snow is possible in northwestern missouri and it is going to head into chicago today as a wintry mix. But eventually it changes over to snow. And chicago could end up with 3, maybe 6 inches especially tonight into tomorrow. A couple snow showers still falling in kansas city tomorrow. So it is brutal and has been brutal for a couple weeks in the plains. Urn itting to entertainment, if you thought Jennifer Lawrence would take the week to relax after winning her oscar you were wrong. Less than 24 hours after taking home the academy award, her 22yearold actress had her blond hair dyed to return to hawaii to film the sequel for the hunger games. The lincoln star daniel daylewis said i need to lie down for a couple years. Its really going to be hard to imagine doing anything after this. Lots of folks tuned in for his big win. The oscar broadcast scored more than 40 Million Viewers sunday night including young viewers in eight years. Seth macfarlane may be able to take credit for that. According to an access poll, macfarlane was fairly well liked. James carey showed up wearing oscar feet. And in the music scene mumford and sons is moving from their normal folksy sound to hiphop. The artists have been talked to jayz for what should be, quote, a fresh experience for the band. Finally, wedding bells all around. Jacket jackson has confirmed shes married her billionaire boyfriend and Christina Aguilera said i do on friday. Actresses say im going to take a couple years off. I know, to have the ability to take years off is unbelievable. I havent seen lincoln yesterday, just the buzz around it. I said cristinaing ahristinat married she did not. Christina applegate got married. Im mara schiavocampo, and this is early today, just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. A clear, cold start to the morning. But that massive winter storm that buried the midwest is rolling into our region. Its not bringing snow but it will likely cause problems for our area, especially during the evening rush. Storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein has what you need to know in a few minutes. One man is in Critical Condition after his tractortrailer overturned on the beltway in maryland. It happened at route 450 in lanham, some lanes are still closed. Megan mcgrath on the scene with the latest. How this could impact your commute. You can see the mess that we have here on the inner loop of the beltway. The tractortrailer which left the roadway went through the guardrail and actually went smashing through the sound barrier here along a side of the beltway. They have a crane on the scene. A very short time ago i talked to the tow truck driver. He thought it would take a half hour to get the truck out of here. Theres still a cleanup job ahead of them. The saddle tanks ruptured. We have diesel fuel on the ground. They have to clean up the debris before they can reopen these lanes. We are on the inner lap of the beltway just prior to 450 as you mentioned. We have two lanes closed here for the activity. We have two lanes of traffic getting by to the right. Its early and Traffic Volume is light. We are seeing speeds at normal here. The traffic is going by at a pretty good clip at this point. If they dont get this out of here soon, were going to see th
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