we're together. states of emergency declared in multiple states as a massive nor'easter is bearing down, disrupting air travel across the nation, with feet of snow expected. stormy weather ahead for the president as the porn star files a suit against mr. trump while his top economic adviser ternds his resignation over a tariff dispute. >> it's tough. i like conflict. i like two people with different points of view. this morning the now former mayor of nashville smiling for her mugshot just a month after admitting to an extramarital affair and facing multiple investigations. then to a suspected drunk driver who ends up being hit by his own car. and have you ever seen the mountain lift over 1,000 pounds?

"early today" starts right now. >> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> good wednesday morning to you. i'm frances rivera. winter is showing tho signs of mercy. just five days after a deadly nor'easter another monster storm is roaring into the east coast. threatening tens of millions of americans with heavy snow and strong binds. coastal areas could also see aen more flooding like massachusetts where towering waves pounded the shorelines during the last storm. breaching protective walls and battering homes. hundreds are now in danger of being washed away. over 100,000 customers are still in the dark, many without heat. utility crews are racing the clock to get the power back on. but the second blast of severe weather only means more bad news. >> it's a nightmare. truly a nightmare. it's unreal. two days is fine, three days, but we've been without power since friday. >> it's freezing in there. and i've been sleeping on the floor in my living room in front of the fireplace for the past how many days?

>> damages from the first storm still litter many areas. in ryebrook, new york strong winds snapped this large tree, bringing down a power line. seen nearly striking two officers and a resident. officials are now warning that the second nor'easter could inflict more destruction and widespread travel disruptions. over 1,000 flights have been canceled ahead of the storm. several airlines are also offering waivers for those cancellations. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with us tracking this storm for us. >> good morning. every nor'easter is different and this one is not going to have the costa flooding or high winds. this is going to be heavy wet snow in a very short period of time, extreme travel disruptions and then we'll have to deal with power outages from that heavy wet snow. snow overnight in washed washin d.c. and baltimore. it's when the really intense snow comes later this morning into this afternoon, that's when we get the accumulating snows. 37 million people under winter storm warning. another 14 million under winter weather advisories. here's the latest snowfall predictions. they haven't really changed much

overnight. we're still looking at the heaviest shows from i-95 northward toward coastal areas. cape cod, long island, and the jersey shore. we are watching the heaviest totals that are going to be in central northern new jersey. that will be as we go throughout the morning into the afternoon and then thernlt portions of nungtd. that will be this afternoon's event into the evening commute. the worst of it you done want to be on the roads. i-9-o i-87, 84 through connecticut or 80 through northern jersey. >> it's going to be rough. thanks, bill. another top trump administration official is calling it quits. chief economic adviser gary cohn is resigning after a dispute with the president over tariffs. it's just the latest in a string of top-level resignations from the administration. tracie potts joins us and brings us the latest. >> reporter: a lot of people have left the white house. just in the last year in 2017 and 2018 a number of top-level

advisers who have left the white house and now add to that as you see at the bottom right gary cohn. cohn was the head of the national economic council but of late he and the president butted heads over these tariffs the president wants to impose on imported steel and aluminum. cohn thought that was a bad idea. in leaving in a statement he said he was grateful for the opportunity. and this is what trump said about gary cohn. he's praised him in the past for his role in tax cuts. we also know that gary cohn had been involved in trying to push the president's infrastructure plan that never really got off the ground, but the president said cohn did a superb job driving our agenda, helping to deliver those historic tax cuts and reforms and unleashing the american economy once again. now, will cohn be the last to leave? not necessarily. president trump left that door open, ol although he says peopl want to work at the white house. >> the white house has tremendous energy.

it has tremendous spirit. it is a great place to be working. many, many people want every single job. you know, i read where oh, gee, maybe people don't want to work for trump. believe me, everybody wants to work in the white house. >> reporter: now, one official tells us that cohn wanted a bigger job in the white house and was being considered for that at some point when he decided to leave. frances? >> tracie potts for us. tracie, thanks. adult film actress stormy daniels is now suing president trump, arguing a non-disclosure agreement regarding an alleged affair is invalid. attorney michael avona tachlt ti alleges daniels' agreement to keep quiet about her quote intimate relationship" with mr. trump was signed by daniels and trump's lawyer but not trump himself making it null and void. the suit claims daniels and trump's releaseship started in 2006 and went well into 2007. the hush agreement as it's called in the suit refers to daniels as peggy peterson and trump as david dennison throughout. a side letter agreement shows

her signature using her given name stephanie clifford but the space for dade dennison is blank. though dennison's identity is blacked out in the side letter, evanotti says it is mr. trump. the agreement was sand just days before the 2016 election and directed a $130,000 payment to daniels' account. her lawyer is now asking the court to rule the nda invalid and unenforceable. mr. trump has not publicly acknowledged the affair and his personal lawyer michael cohen has said the rumors have been vehemently denied by both mr. trump and miss daniels. cohn has admitted to make the payment to daniels but has declined to disclose why. the white house did not modely respond to our requests for comment. an outside lawyer for mr. trump declined to comment. the state department has slapped additional sanctions on north korea after determining the country used agent vx, a baped chemical weapon, to asochx north korean leader's half brother kim jong-nam. kim jong un's es trairnlgd half

brother was killed at kuala lumpur airport in asia last year when two women snaerd his face with poisonous chemical. this announcement you comes just hours after north korea reportedly indicated it was willing to sit down with american negotiators to discuss giving up its nuclear arsenal. nbc's kelly cobia gives us the latest from seoul. good morning. >> reporter: phillip, good morning. south korea's national security adviser is heading to washington tomorrow to brief the trump administration on just what north korea's kim jong un is proposing here. the south koreans say that kim jong un is willing to talk frankly with the united states about giving up the country's nuclear weapons program, that the country would stop all nuclear and missile tests if those talks happened, and that kim jong un is not demanding that those military xersz with the u.s. and south korea are scaled back or postponed at the end of the month as a condition of these possible talks.

president trump expressing optimism about this latest overture from the north koreans but a bit of skepticism from the japanese this morning. one japanese official saying north korea's intentions are unclear, the country needs to show commitment and concrete actions that they're serious about giving up their nuclear weapons program. as one senior u.s. official said, we have a 27-year history of talks with north korea, and they've broken every agreement they've made. phillip? >> we'll see if it's different this time, kelly. thank you. in nashville a bitter public farewell from the city's now former mayor after an extramarital affair with her bodyguard led to a swift fall from grace. megan barry resigned from office tuesday, hours after pleading guilty in court to theft of property accused of taking too funds. nbc's kerry sanders is in nashville with the details. >> reporter: the now former mayor of nashville smiling for

her mugshot. >> guilty or not guilty? >> guilty. >> reporter: megan barry pleading guilty to a felony theft charge, then resigning her office. >> my name today as your mayor concludes. >> reporter: a sudden and dramatic fall for the once popular mayor now facing multiple investigations after admitting last hon to a two-year affair with her police bodyguard robert forrest. both are married. back then barry insisting she had done nothing illegal. >> and i am embarrassed and i am sad and i am so sorry. i know that god will forgive me but that nashville doesn't have to. >> reporter: but then came evidence of nude photos taken on her bodyguard's work phone while on duty. investigators say the pair took ten tax-payer-funded trips by themselves including a conference in greece, staying an extra three nights. in a two-year period according to the national tennessean forrest earning more overtime pay than the other four officers

on her security detail combined. barry already coming off a difficult year. her 22-year-old son max dying of an kroefr dose of drugs including opioids last july. talking to nbc just ten days after his death. >> this ole hole i have in my heart will never be filled. >> reporter: this morning nashville's former mayor has paid $11,000 in restitution and will serve three years' probation on the theft charges. frances? >> kerry sanders from n. nashville, thank you. >> nbc meteorologist bill karins joining us again with the latest on this nor'easter -- >> let's break down the timing. millions of kids and teachers out of school today. a lot of people trying to figure out how they're going to get to can from work. watching snow routine philadelphia, east pennsylvania area. especially as you're heading to the poconos, it will start to accumulate. it won't be until late in the afternoon early in the morning it saturdays to accumulate,

northern jersey, southern new england. it's going to be like a wall of white, snowfall rates at one to three inches an hour probably numerous reports of thunder snowe so, in other words literally a thunderstorm but instead of rain producing heavy amounts of snow and that will be right over the top of central and southern new england. that's why the roads then will be horrendous for the plus a dui suspect on the run is

hit by his own car. we'll bring you those details next here. with zero dollar copays on select plans and reward points on prescriptions. so no matter where you're going or who you are, it's worth the trip. we'll help you find low cost prescriptions including zero dollar copays on select medicare part d plans. walgreens. trusted since 1901. mitzi: psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way? watch me. ( ♪ ) mike: i've tried lots of things for my joint pain.

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ask your rheumatologist anif you've got a lifee. you gotta swiffer dui suspect trying to get away. his own car, watch, hitting him. caught on dash cam video in fairfax county, virginia. here you go watch it again. police were trying to pull over this guy for suspected drunk driving right before the car knocked him down. but he forgot to put his car in park. and he ran right in front of it. yeah. so the suspect was hit by his own car. little minor detail he forgot. he wasn't srs lseriously injure. the man was put under arrest.

>> can't blame anybody. it was right there on camera. leading the news the ask you fish and wildlife service is once again reversing course on big game trophies, now saying it will consider imports of them on a case-by-case basis. a formal memo quietly released last friday said the agency is withdrawing earlier rulings related to elephant trophies from several african nations and lion trophies from south africa. however, the memo didn't specify the criteria for permits. the agency originally lifted the obama-era ban on such trophies back in november. but after widespread outcry president trump reinstated it, calling the practice a horror show. this man just keeps raking in the billions. not president trump. we're going to show you the new top dog here on "forbes'" billionaires list for 2018. it's this guy. amazon ceo jeff bezos comes in at the top of the list for the first time, with a fortune worth $112 billion. he is also the only person on the list with a 12-figure net

worth. others in the top five included is the o'previous top billionaire bill gates, worth just 90 billion. he's followed by investor and philanthropist warren buffett, french business mogul bernard arnault and facebook founder mark zuckerberg. >> it is great to be jeff bezos these days. >> how do you even feel 7 billion to another 12? >> you can't. but he knows every single penny what he's got. >> what got him there. it is a big win for $20,000 -- 20,000 teachers, rather. i've got money on my mind. 20,000 teachers in west virginia. they footbally got their 5% pay raise after a week of protest. governor jim justice signed the legislation and it gives all state employees including thousands of teachers, service personnel and state police a 35ers raise starting july 1st of this year. the state senate says lawmakers will seek to cut state spending by $20 million to pay for the raises taking funds from medicaid and other government services. still ahead, find out what personal items nancy pelosi is

donating to the smithsonian. and the former first lady and 2-year-old, they're lighting up the internet. there was a really fun backstory, though. we'll bring you those details next. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion, and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. we're fed up with your unpredictability. remission can start with stelara®.

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fast-forwarding into wednesday, attorney general jeff sessions is expected to announce a lawsuit that seeks to undo california laws that provide sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. the trump administration claims the laws hinder immigration

authorities and are unconstitutional. congresswoman nancy pelosi will take part in a ceremony at the smithsonian's national museum of american history in washington. she is donating a gavel given to her when she became the first woman speaker of the house on january 4th, 2007. she is also donating the burgundy pantsuit she wore to her swearing in. coming up on hd hd hoda kotb asked celebrity friends to bring herr new children's book "i've loved you since forever" to life. she is one of the biggest obamain the world.hell had a dance party with that young 2-year-old there. that's parker curry. after the photo right here went viral. the little girl just gazing admiringly at michelle obama's portrait. it was snapped by a stranger and posted on social media and it got popular really fast, capturing michelle obama's attention. the two meeting in her office. the former first lady then tweeting how glad she was to

meet parker. >> look how focused she looks in her conversation. >> and having that dance party. and it was fast. that photo went viral yesterday and now we're seeing the meeting. julius bjornson, he plays the mountain on "game of thrones." now he may be able to move them. the 6'9" iceland native known by a lot of fans as cersei's bodyguard on the show. he deadlifted 1,041 pounds. he planned to beat out last year's record of 1,030 pounds and he threw ten more pounds on it. he did. that is incredible. this guy is -- if you've ever seen the show, he just -- everyone looks like a dwarf. they dwarf in comparison to how big he is. >> he is a beast. "early today" will be right back. actually, you do. harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line, and if you're not taking care of your gums,

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game day sacrifice... and be eaten. mitzi: psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way? watch me. ( ♪ ) mike: i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ( ♪ ) joni: think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are changing the way they fight it. they're moving forward with cosentyx. it's a different kind of targeted biologic. it's proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. don't use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. mitzi: with less joint pain, watch me.

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