one example, chicago may not reach a high of zero tomorrow. the wind chill map alone is rather chilling. and aside from the cold, as we'll hear in a moment, there are troubles in the west as well. first tonight we begin with nbc's kevin tibbles in chicago. kevin, good evening. >> reporter: brian, much of america remains hunkered down tonight as this dangerous swath of arctic air continues to push further and further south, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere for a couple of days. already here in chicago, some 80 schools have announced they'll be closed tomorrow. for some 200 million americans, today was an arctic trudge. blowing snow and bone chilling temperatures. pennsylvania roads became skating rinks. soon filled with sliding cars and multiple crashes. accidents, too, some fatal, from iowa to indiana. whiteouts and car crashes became synonymous. here in chicago, there are 300,000 passenger rail trips per day. frozen switches would cause travel chaos. rail crews light gas heater fires to keep them thawed out. these things freeze up, wh

and today president obama famously a chicago white sox fan said this about ernie banks. somewhere the sun is shining, the air is fresh, his team's behind him and mr. class, mr. cub, is ready to play too. even as his team dropped games, ernie banks never left home. forever endearing him to his fans. janet shamlian, nbc news, houston. >>> up here, never gone out of style, new life for an american classic. >>> finally tonight, it's been part of america's popular culture for decades, the airstream travel trailer. lately it seems like they can't make enough of them. here's nbc's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: this is the sound of an american dream being built one rivet at a time. >> something about that kind of crafted american authenticity hand built that people respond to. >> reporter: for more than 80 years the airstream has been synonymous with adventure and style. devotees even hold rallies in the far flung regions of the world. this airstream club sent us a picture from arizona. but the real heart of an airstream beats here in middle america, tiny jackson center, ohio, whe

>> kevin tibbles in cold chicago for us tonight. kevin, thanks. >>> sadly all this cold weather goes hand-in-hand with flu season which has hit early and already hit hard. already as of last week 36 states were reporting widespread flu activity. this week it's up to 43 states. and this season the flu is already responsible for dozens of deaths in this country, many of them children. we get our report on that from our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: today, americans get back to work and school facing a particularly aggressive flu season in part because this year's vaccine is less than effective, raising some important questions. for instance, how long is someone contagious? well, a person can begin spreading the flu to others even before they have symptoms and then remain infectious for up to five days after getting sick. that's why it's so important to be vigilant about washing your hands and to stay home if you are sick. how long will my symptoms last? the fever, muscle aches and sore throat can last five to

cub symbolized the hopes and perseverance of long suffering chicago fans. we get more tonight from nbc's janet shamlian. >> reporter: the name synonymous with the team he played for, ernie banks and the chicago cubs. a windy city institution, a power slugger who belted in 529 homers over a 19-year run. >> he did it! ernie banks got number 500! >> sunshine. fresh air. we got the team behind us. so let's play too. >> reporter: that line let's play too, became his signature. an expression of the eternal optimism one must have to cheer for the cubs. despite the awards hall of famer, 11-time all-star and the national league's mvp two years running, ernie banks never played one game in the post season. the cubs infamous championship drought is the longest in major league baseball. after starting in the negro league number 14 came to chicago in 1953 as a shortstop in the team's first african-american player. he never suited up for anyone but the cubs. two years ago banks received the nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. and today pre

brian. >> kevin tibbles, another cold night at navy pier in chicago. kevin, thanks. >>> we are back in a moment with a pair of superfoods in the news tonight because of potentially big benefits to our health. >>> the ground won't stop shaking in texas. eleven quakes of various strengths in the last 24 hours, mostly in the ft. worth area. no injuries, no cause, no serious damage quite yet, just to people's nervous systems. >>> both in the avocado industry and oatmeal industry there are celebrations tonight celebrating the fact they are both the subject of separate medical studies containing good news for their products. the journal of the american heart association says avocados can actually lower cholesterol within weeks and have good plaque busting properties. in the harvard school of public health says whole grain foods like oatmeal can lower your cardiovascular death risk by 15%. >> you know what they say about paybacks. john boehner was easily re-elected house speaker yesterday despite 24 defections in his own party. and now the speaker has yanked

john yang, nbc news, chicago. >>> and that is our broadcast on this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. a reminder we're right back on the air our live coverage of the president's state of the union address. until then, good night from washington. >>> from nbc news, the state of >>> from nbc news the state of the union address live from washington. here's brian williams. >> good evening from capitol hill in washington where the most obvious feature behind us is the scaffolding covering the iconic capitol dome. the clock has started on a huge restoration project to have it up and ready for the inauguration of the next president exactly two years from now. and tonight the clock starts on the final two years of the obama presidency. it was exactly six years ago that over a million people filled the mall in the cold to hear the president's words. so m

john yang nbc news chicago. >>> that is our broadcast this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. a reminder we're right back on the air at 9:00 p.m. for the state of the union address tonight. until then, good night from washington. >>> the kardashian girls to the rescue rallying around tabloid target, bruce jenner. >> now on extra! >> bruce jenner the man in the middle. the hidden message in their new family portrait. >>> plus kim's naughty new book selfish leaks out. and guess what's inside. >> breaking couples news seve jobs' widow moving on with the former mayor of dc. plus j-lo's celebrity match make sneer has he tried to hook you up. >> new details oetails on the death of fitness star greg plitt, was the adrenaline junkie trying to outrun a train. >> michael moore backtracks on calling chris kyle a coward. >> chris actually should be here sitting with me. >> then. >> >> i'm a' in new york city, and my wife is with we for a little foetd showdown. >> let's see what got the best star picks of the day. >> guess who hoda kotb

brian. >> kevin tibbles, another cold night at navy pier in chicago. kevin, thanks. >>> we are back in a moment with a pair of superfoods in the news tonight because of potentially big benefits to our health. els, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you. guess what: your insurance company will only give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is why do you have that insurance company? with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. she inspires you. no question about that. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical cond

john yang, nbc news, chicago. >>> that is our broadcast this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. a reminder we're right back on the air at 9:00 p.m. for the live coverage of the state of the union address tonight. until then, good night from washington. ♪ lights camera, access ♪ >>> the message is a clear one to me which is -- >> give them the same respect. >> so many firing back at those taking shots at "american sniper." i'm billy bush and dean cain

temperatures in chicago on wednesday, we'll fight to get above zero degrees and that is early in the morning. and temperatures drop in the day. so lester really cold air even into atlanta. the coldest we've seen this season. >> kim, thanks very much. >>> eight days since the crash of the airasia flight to singapore. three dozen bodies have been recovered but many are still missing as the search continues in challenging conditions. katy tur has the latest. >> reporter: at the search zone today, bad weather and rough seas once again. divers hoping to get a visual on the shadow believed to be the fuselage were forced to surface because of the strong currents under water. the head of operations said our prior ort now is to dive in the area where we found the objects which we suspect are part of the plane. and in jakarta, optimism that the black boxes would be collected tomorrow. right now five ships are searching for data reporters using specialized acoustic equipment to listen for pings. des light the -- despite the lack of concrete information, they believe weather did trigger the cras

for 2014 and when passenger and cargo traffic are combined, congratulations are in order again for chicago. o'hare back on top for the first time in a decade. more than 881,000 arrivals and departures last year. >>> thousands of people can't drink the water in the town of glendive in northeastern montana. in the water supply, officials have found benzine which can cause cancer at three times the level safe for consumption. this is downstream from the site of a 50,000-gallon oil spill over the weekend. emergency responders have trucked in bottled water for the people there. and about the environment, thick ice is now slowing up the cleanup effort. >>> this next item will no doubt cause a lot of hubbub in a lot of american households tonight. a new report is claiming one in five americans have spent $500 or more on something without telling their partner about it. and more than 7 million americans are apparently hiding bank or credit card accounts from their loved one. and men, according to this report, do that a lot more than women by a couple million americans. as we said, bound to cause h

more security too in chicago for the consulate there. and more police presence at the consulate in atlanta. the french government has asked for additional security at its embassy here in washington. and in response the secret service has stepped up patrols. police nationwide have been urged to be extra vigilant in response to the paris shooting, but there's been no security directive from federal authorities, and no change in the terror threat level. that's largely because u.s. officials see the attack in paris as an act of retribution. like a mob hit some officials say, with no connection between the terrorists in paris and anyone here. u.s. officials say they sympathize with the french government, which has revealed that the two suspects were known to police and had been under surveillance. american officials say the u.s. faces the same challenge, trying to keep tabs on a growing number of terror suspects here. ron hoskel, former fbi assistant director, says conducting secret surveillance is very manpower intensive. >> to surveil one p

it will be snowing from omaha to chicago by saturday night. then that energy spreads towards new york city on sunday. there will be some heavy rain moving in across west virginia, down through virginia and parts of the southern states also. then the snow spreads into boston around 11:00 on monday. so they could see upwards of another foot of snow there, 6 to 10 inches possible around new york city maybe as much as 6 to 10 inches back to cleveland. there's also windchills for bitter cold temperatures below zero, brian. >> janice huff in the weather center for us tonight as we head into the weekend. janice, thanks. >>> a major decision today in the political world, and it just changed the race for 2016. after much back and forth, two-time presidential candidate mitt romney decided not to run again. but candidly it was a stretch for even loyal republicans to picture romney making a third try. our report tonight from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: while he was convinced the third time could have been the charm, mitt romney, seen here today in

not so in one small city west of chicago. just make sure you have small change on hand. >> reporter: downtown sycamore, illinois, may be the last place you can get something for a penny. 12 minutes of parking. need more time? a nickel gets you an hour. a dime, two hours. the rates haven't changed in more than # 60 years. since harry truman was president. but watch out, if your meter runs out, in 2008, the fine quadrupled. to $1. for out-of-towners it can be an eye opener. >> a penny? that is a great bargain. >> reporter: for residents it is part of the charm of small-town life. there's not much you can get with a penny now. >> no. but you keep them in your car so you can use it right here. >> reporter: and then there is the sycamore version of validated parking. >> some of the merchants keep little fish bowls of pennies on the counter to reimburse. >> reporter: sim more takes in more than $75,000 a year in parking fees and fines but that is all they want, just enough to cover costs. sycamore officials don't know of any other

chicago will stay as all snow. we're looking at easily a foot. same goes for southern parts of michigan and into northwestern ohio. most of new england will see a foot of snow new york closer to about three to six inches. boston we have to watch it. there could be another foot of snow headed that way, lester. >> dylan, thanks. we'll see you in the morning on "today." >>> when "nightly news" continues on this saturday, the battle over drones and the new way they're being kept out of places they don't belong. >>> and later, the smartest thanks for the ride around norfolk! and i just wanted to say geico is proud to have served the military for over 75 years! roger that. captain's waiting to give you a tour of the wisconsin now. could've parked a little bit closer... it's gonna be dark by the time i get there. geico. proudly serving the military for over 75 years. alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours, but aleve can last 12 hours... and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? ho

john yang, nbc news, chicago. >>> and we're switching gears in a moment with the words you might want to strike from your vocabulary if you want to start the new year off right. >>> the sights from auckland, new zealand, the first major city to celebrate the new year. they're already well into their hangovers there. and in australia where sydney held its always spectacular celebration. journeying west across the time zone, hong kong welcomed 2015 with a dazzling fireworks display. and never to be outdone, dubai went big and bigger with a massive l.e.d. light show. >>> and pretty soon it will be our turn. earlier we mentioned the bitterly cold temperatures descending on most of the nation, but that couldn't stop a massive crowd from gathering in and around times square where the ball is poised to drop. security is tight this year after a month filled with mass protests in new york city. stephanie gosk is in times square tonight. stephanie, how's it going out there? >> reporter: hey, kate. happy new year's eve from me and hundreds of thousands of my closest friends. many of whom have fl

kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >>> there's more, another massive traffic headache caused by huge amounts of snow in western new york tonight. a stretch of the throughway, nearly 70 miles long, remains closed from buffalo, new york to the pennsylvania state line. lake effect snow all related expected to drop two to three feet more in buffalo while watertown to the northeast could see up to five feet as yet another arctic blast moves in to much of the country tomorrow. >>> still ahead on this friday night, free college for millions of american students. an ambitious offer that could help so many families. >>> also, the homecoming. the young woman we came to know in the fight against ebola overseas comes home to the u.s. from the front lines. >>> in tennessee today president obama unveiled the goal of a nation where everyone has not only the chance but also the means to go to college. he has a plan to put more careers on the launchpad with two years of community college tuition courtesy of the government. and while for millions of us a community college education can be the only viable opti

kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >>> late word coming in to us of a disturbing story out of ohio. it involves an alleged threat made against the life of house speaker john boehner back in his home district. the feds have filed criminal charges against a former bartender there, accusing him of threatening to kill speaker boehner by scheming to either poison him, poison his drink, or shoot him. the feds say the man is disturbed. speaker boehner's office tells nbc's luke russert the speaker is aware of the situation and is thanking authorities for their efforts. >>> the race for the white house has suddenly gotten very hot and possibly very crowded as the gop attempts to win back the oval office. many potential republican candidates, including at least one who's been there before, who seemed on the fence or had ruled out a run completely now seem like they may be on the verge of going in. our report tonight from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: already the 2016 race is looking as crowded as it is unpredictable. at times today new jersey governor chris christie sounded like a man w

kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >>> and we're back in a moment with the news tonight that could be a game changer for the way millions of us watch sports on tv. >>> speaking of travel, expedia has purchased travelocity for close to $300 million in cash. and with this deal as expedia gets larger they're hoping to gain the 20 million monthly travelers that travelocity claims as its customer base. >>> some stunning pictures along the shore in hong kong where the water is actually glowing in the dark fluorescent blue. scientists say the water is potentially toxic. the glow is an indicator of something they call sea sparkle. nice name. it looks like algae, but it's actually caused by farm pollution from nearby that can devastate marine life. >>> the nhl has signed a deal with gopro. it will allow the view from players to be part of live hockey coverage on the ice. while the deal is a first, it's a trend we could easily see coming to baseball and football and more before too long. >>> two major anniversaries in two separate food groups. first, that american staple the beer can, is 80 yea

john yang, nbc news, chicago. >>> the new year will also bring fatter paychecks to 3 million workers throughout the country. new year's day means a minimum wage increase in 20 states. the smallest hike is in florida at 12 cents more an hour. the biggest increase, south dakota, an extra $1.25 per hour. those are just a handful of the new laws that go into effect as of today. nbc's pete williams takes a look at what is now on the books. >> reporter: starting today in california and connecticut, any qualified state resident can get a driver's license, even immigrants here illegally. state officials say 1.5 million people could be eligible to apply. >> i have my passport, my colombian passport. >> reporter: many have been applying ahead of time and advocates say it makes sense because drivers should know state laws. >> people are driving with licenses from their countries or other states with different rules and they are not properly trained in california driving safety. >> reporter: one catch, the new licenses will be marked to show they cannot be used as a federally approved id to boar

kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >>> there's more, another massive traffic headache caused by huge amounts of snow in western new york tonight. a stretch of the throughway, nearly 70 miles long, remains closed from buffalo, new york to the pennsylvania state line. lake effect snow all related expected to drop two to three feet more in buffalo while watertown to the northeast could see up to five feet as yet another arctic blast moves in to much of the country tomorrow. >>> still ahead on this friday night, free college for millions of american students. an ambitious offer that could help so many families. >>> also, the homecoming. the young woman we came to know in the fight against ebola overseas comes home to the u.s. from the front lines. ar for four years. you named it brad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together. two boyfriends. three jobs. you're like "nothing can replace brad!" then liberty mutual calls. and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement, we'll pay for a car that's a model year newer with 15

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but spreading to other big hubs as well, atlanta and chicago. it may be wednesday before the nation's airlines even attempt to put all their planes back in the air. yeah, don't expect any flights at all tomorrow. late word on amtrak. it is now closing or suspending all operations in the northeast from new york to boston effective tomorrow. so amtrak also shutting down, brian. >> tom costello with an incredible scene there at laguardia airport here in new york. tom, thanks. >>> in covering weather, we have learned terminology like superstorm, polar vortex. and with this storm there's a new one, bombogensis. al roker's out on the plaza to explain what that means and try to forecast this sprawling weather system. hey, al, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. bombogenesis, when you have rapid deepening of a storm, it explodes, if you will drops 24 millibars in 24 hours or less. that's what we're expecting with this storm as it makes its way up the coast. it is going to really intensify. so we have blizzard warnings for 29 million people f

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