joining me now is a criminologist, jack levin from northeast oouuniversity. good to see, jack. >> thank you, fredericka. >> yeah. there were a lot of predictions within the last five years of crime rates soaring in large part because of the bad economy. this is the opposite. what is the common denominator in your view? >> well, you're absolutely right. we thought the crime rate was going to skyrocket. >> yeah. >> because of the budget cuts and so many inmates being released after the war on drugs. instead, the murder rate, the rate of serious crime has plummeted over the last four years. and, you know, i think chicago now knows what a lot of other major cities have already discovered, that the police can do a lot more than just respond to crime. they can also prevent it. they can send more and more officers to crime hotspots around the city. they can do more about prosecuting gun crimes. they can supervise our youngsters, collaborate and cooperate with the residents. the probation officers. the patrol officers. they can get involved in the gangs. they can do

criminologist jack levin of northeastern university, thanks so much for your time and expertise. appreciate it. >> thank you, fredericka. >> and happy new year. >>> all right. we've got much more straight ahead in the "newsroom." right now it's 3:00 eastern time. i'm fredericka whitfield. here's a look at our top stories. on the heels of a massive snowstorm, a fierce arctic cold front is sweeping across the country threatening to push low temperatures even lower and possibly shattering records across the u.s. >>> and we have the results of a new study on vitamin e and alzheimer's disease. hear what happened when patients took the antioxidant every day and what the lead researcher is saying about the findings. >>> plus, a setback for women trying to land a combat role in the u.s. marines' mandatory physical requirements for females now being delayed. we'll tell you why and what effect that could have on the battlefield. >>> a powerful blast of arctic weather is about to sweep its way across the u.s. and it's headed for tens of millions of people who were already hit by this week's