of "dateline extra." i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. xxxx good morning. i'm dara brown in new york. it's 7:00 in the east, 4:00 out west. now, here is a look at what's happening. the brother of esteban santiago asked why he was allowed to keep his gun after talking to fbi. senate confirmation hearings set to begin. plus -- >> 300 sandbags on property. already put a bunch out. >> the monumental rainstorm expected to bring severe flooding to one part of the

country. we begin with weather. this morning much of the east coast is recovering from a winter storm that dumped deadly mess of snow, sleet, and ice from the southeast up to new england. one fatality has been reported after slick roads in virginia caused this suv to slide off the road, slam another vehicle, and overturn in a creek. police have confirmed five total deaths in connection with the storm. joining me now is meteorologist bonnie snider. good morning. what's the latest? >> we're tallying up those snowfall totals. we've had record numbers in providence rhode island where there was 10 inches of snow, shattering record of 8 inches in 1977, a while back. as we're looking for heavy snow working its way away from us from coastal maine, the big news, temperatures behind the system are really cold. it's in the single digits in some places and teens in others. even where we didn't get a lot of snow, we certainly had plenty

of ice. be careful out there this morning. off to the west, huge story developing. tropical moisture coming off the pacific. this is what we call an atmospheric river. the moisture is going to keep on coming. not just for today. today is a big day for the storm. this is going to be a story going into next week. you can see the heavy rain coming into san francisco. yesterday we had two- and three-hour airport delays. it's a double threat. as the rain tallies up in the higher elevations it's going to melt mountain snow and that will come down slope and cause more of a risk for flooding. it's just the recipe for a lot of rain. beneficial for the drought but too much too soon can make a difference. now, to the pacific northwest, freezing rain and ice. so as we look towards the valleys, the temperatures in the mid levels of the atmosphere, a little bit warmer. we tend to get more of a freezing rain mix where the water freezes on contact. in and around the columbia gorge, at least half an inch of ice. some computer models seeing three-quarters inch of ice.

this will be dangerous around oregon, a mess around the west. not just california but so many places facing snow, rain and ice. dara. >> bonnie, thanks so much for that report. to tammy leitner in norfolk, virginia. tammy, good morning to you. i know it was a blizzard but what's it like now? >> hi, dara. the good news, the snow has stopped but frigid temperatures. that makes for icy roads which are extremely dangerous. in other parts of the country, it's actually been deadly. in boston, a driver lost control, hit a woman who was walking on the sidewalk. she ended up dying. in connecticut, icy roads are to blame for a 20-car pileup. tanker truck, semis, fuel all over the interstate. unbelievably no one was injured. you know, this weather is really wreaking havoc as bonnie mentioned on air travel. from new york to georgia, thousands of flights canceled,

delayed. travelers stuck not knowing if anwhen they are going to get out. in south carolin a tanker truck spun out of control causing a collision, a pileup on the interstate. just a lot of problems everywhere you look. you know, they are saying back here in norfolk, this cold is going to hang on for a matter of days, which means these roads are going to continue to be icy, extremely dangerous, warning everybody to stay off them. >> tammy, thanks so much for that report. we have some breaking news from jerusalem. israeli police say a truck rammed into a group of soldiers at a popular promenade. at least 15 people were injured, two critically. officials say the driver has been killed. we'll keep you updated as we get more information. new developments in the investigation of the shooting rampage at the ft. lauderdale airport. the suspected gunman is now facing federal charges that could carry the death penalty. we're also hearing from the

26-year-old esteban santiago's brother. he's pointing blame at the fbi. nbc's kerry sanders is at the airport. kerry, what is the brother saying? >> reporter: well, it's interesting. the brother is talking about the fact that esteban santiago had actually gone into the fbi office in alaska to talk about the fact that he was hearing voices, and that those voices from the cia were telling him to watch isis videos. well, the authorities there, the fbi, decided to hand him over to the local police where he was then put into some mental health counseling. that's where his brother, brian santiago says there appears to be a failure. that's what he had to tell us about that mental health counseling that followed. >> they have responsibility. they knew that he have psychological problems. when fbi visited me yesterday here, they told me that they

knew it. that he went to fbi office. if they knew it, why they set him free. they set him free. >> so that mental health counseling lasted for four days. apparently his brother believes that certainly was not enough to help him, much less change his mind. the authorities are telling us the alleged gunman had his gun taken away from h in alaska after turning himself into fbi and handed over to mental health counselors. he was given that gun back. authorities are trying to determine if that was the same gun he used when he returned here to ft. lauderdale. according to federal documents filed in this case, it appears esteban santiago came here with a single purpose, and that was to take his gun out and shoot to kill. what we don't know from those documents is why. we're also getting a better picture of at least some of the victims, the five who were killed. one of them is olga walterling.

great-grandmother married to her husband 60 years. on a cruise in ft. lauderdale. they were going to be celebrating his 90th birthday. always this man worked at the norfolk shipyard and volunteer firefighter. this morning there were six others who were wounded in the shooting. they remained in the hospital. dara. >> kerry sanders, so many questions left. thank you so much for that report. let's bring in law enforcement can list jim kafanov, retired agent and hostage negotiator. you just heard esteban santiago's brother in that report. do you think he's right? >> he's right for his feelings for the brother and the victims but he's wrong as a matter of law. in the united states gun laws from '68 only prohibit a person from having a gun if they are

adjudicated as a mental defective by a court. that's a very involved process. a voluntary commitment he did in alaska, the shooter, that doesn't qualify you to prohibit you from having a gun. the fbi and police really had no legal basis to deny him the gun. he was not committed by a court. he was not a convicted felon. he was not convicted of those allegations against him of domestic violence. if he had been convicted of those misdemeanor charges. of course, also, dara, ap reporting this morning he was awol a few times in the military and they demoted and discharged him but they gave him a general discharge. the federal law says if you're dishonorably discharged you can't have a gun. he was generally discharged. that doesn't prevent you from having a gun. each step, he kind of slipped

through. the last case, really there's going to be a change in the laws in the states, restraining orders and gun laws chkd have prevented him from getting the gun back and purchasing a new gun. we don't know exactly if this is the gun from alaska he took to florida. that remains to be seen. but a guy hearing voices -- i'm sorry. >> these authorities determining whether someone is or is not a threat to the public? >> well, there's a lot of people out there when you're in law enforcement or police you think are threats. you can only go as far as the law allows. you can't say this guy is really dangerous but i have no reason -- i can't just sweep him up. we don't live in a police state. you might can interview him, talk to him. what they did in this case sent him for mental evaluation. you can't just throw him in the gulag. you can't take his property or gun, it's against the law.

this is where lawmakers failed. if anybody failed, it's lawmakers. lawmakers that don't -- i'm sorry. >> let's listen to what the nfb said about his weapon. >> what type did he use? did he follow procedures? as i briefed last night, he used a semiauto handgun. a 9 millimeter. we're not ready to release the make of the handgun. every indication is he did follow tsa procedures in checking in the weapon. >> jim, how much of a loophole in security did this attack expose? the rules are in place and designed to keep someone from firing them on a plane but not necessarily at the airport? >> right. it's always been allowed you can check a gun at the airport in checked baggage if you glare to the airline and it's locked in a secure container. that's not been a change. that's been the law for many

years since '68. it's not a loophole. it's not a change. it's not prohibited. really the way to stop this case is in alaska, not in ft. laerdale when he has his finger on the trigger. you know, dara, he shot all those people in 45 seconds. the deputy was on top of him in there in the scene in 0 seconds. that's a minute and ten seconds. you don't get a faster police response than that. it's hard to stop the guy once he's on the trigger in the crowd. the place to interrupt the killing is back in alaska when we know he has mental health issues. he's delusional. he's talking about watching isis videos, which that's going to urge you to kill. he's got psychiatric problems. has he a gun. that's the place to stop him. you need the laws to stop him there. >> jim cavanaugh, thanks so much for your input on this. great having you here this morning. >> thanks, dara. we have pictures coming from

jerusalem. israeli police say a truck ran into a group of soldiers at a popular promenade. fifteen people reported injured, two critically. police say the driver has been killed. you can see those are live pictures from jerusalem. we will keep you updated as we get more information. the president-elect announces one of his first meetings with a major world leader. how he describes that relationship and when it will happen. it's beautiful. was it a hard place to get to? (laughs) it wasn't too bad. with the chase mobile app, jimmy chin can master depositing his hard earned checks in a snap. easy to use chase technology for whatever you're trying to master. i will nevi wnevereverair again. wash my hair again

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story. at least 15 people wounded when that driver slammed the truck into a group of pedestrians. four killed according to reuters. four women, possibly one man. possibly a group of soldiers, that's according to ap citing israeli police sources. one israeli bus driver who witnessed the attack was interviewed in israel. he said the driver plowed the truck into the group of soldiers and they fired on the driver who reversed direction and ran over them again. this comes at a particularly sensitive time in israel due to outrage over manslaughter brought against israeli soldier filmed shooting incapacitated wounded person in the head. this took place on a popular promenade overlooking the walled old city of jerusalem, another major flash point that's only increasing in importance in recent weeks because president trump pledged to recognize

jerusalem, capital company, previous president and international community. they do say this is a deliberate attack. we will keep following all these details for you. >> lucy kafanov in london. thank you for that update. with just two days the start of senate confirmation hearings new ethics looming over the team. calling plans to elect top cabinet checks before background checks are complete unprecedented and overwhelming government investigators responsible for the reviews. that was the official's assessment following an inquiry by democratic leaders, trying to delay the hearings until all paperwork is completed. senate confirmation hearings will mark one of the first tests for the trump transition team. senator jeff sessions is the first nominee questioned on tuesday followed by five more nominees on wednesday alone. after a barrage of tweets calling for reset on u.s.-russia

relations trump tweeted saturday he's looking ahead to meeting british prime minister theresa may. ron, good morning. do we know what might have sparked the tweets again? >> the one about the uk prime minister seems a little out of the blue. it's unclear exactly why president-elect trump would announce he's going to meet with her in the spring. some time ago she did make critical comments about secretary of state john kerry after he made some fairly harsh statements about israel and settlements, prime minister saying he shouldn't say, south korea kerry shouldn't be critical about the government, saying it was the most right wing government the country ever had an impediment to peace process. highly televised high-profile confirmation hearings on the hill, a proxy battle about trump administration and his policies.

most of the people who are going to be appearing, including jeff sessions and later rex tillerson, secretary of state nominee on wednesday, who is another high-profile nominee, a lot of the questioning is going to be about policies that donald trump has articulated and how they feel about it. of course the expectation is that most of these nominees are going to go through the process, the democrats don't have a lot of votes to try and stop it. as is the custom, they will try to sully up these nominees as much as they can going through and try to stake out territory and probe them about issues like immigratio civil rights russia, cyberspace, so on and so forth and how they feel about things donald trump has said, setting the stage for what's to come once he takes office. dara. >> thank you for that. for more analysis bring in senior reporter for "politico", new york. great to have you there this morning. i want to get your reaction to president-elect trump's twitter barrage yesterday what ron was

talking about, particularly his call for resetting u.s.-russia relations. >> that's not entirely new. the entire premise of trump's attitude toward russia was to reset it, more positive, better working, more collaborative relationship. that's 180 degree turn from currently what the white house position is. trump has seen vladimir putin as someone who you can work with. in some ways they praise each other and trump wants to reset the relationship has really been at the heart of how he views that part of the world. that is disconcerting considering the role russia played in trying to influence the elections. that is going to be a question that's going to linger for some time as trump moves forward on that. >> i also want your take on the red flag being raised about confirmation hearings. background checks aren't complete. what do you know about these

concerns and how unprecedented is this? >> the concern about not completing these preliminary reviews of trump nominees raises a lot of questions. obviously the democrats see it as a continuation of the 2016 campaign and trying to draw a wedge between what donald trump said to voters and what donald trump is actually doing now that he's taking office. what is disconcerting is the idea a candidate who spoke so vehemently about the need for vetting people coming into the country is sort of saying for his own team, you don't really need to vet them, take them at their word. they come from the private sector and that's good enough is largely the argument he's putting forward. trump views the opposition he's getting out of washington as proof that the problem is in washington, that the obstacles he's going to facings more validity to the campaign he had been waging. he's not viewing questions about

his nominee's qualifications as a red flag, he's seeing it as a green light to go forward. >> interesting. we'll see what happens tuesday and wednesday with confirmation hearings. thanks so much for your time today. >> thanks. >> dangerous weather turns deadly. triggered coast-to-coast. a look at the biggest problems right now. at planters, we're all about great taste. and we thoroughly test all our nuts for superior craveability. hey richard, check out this fresh roasted flavor. looks delicious, huh? -yeah. -richard, try to control yourself. -i can't help it. -and how about that aroma? -love that aroma! umph! -craveability, approved! -oh, can i have some now?! -sure! help yourself. -wait, what? -irresistibly planters.

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we're following breaking newsut of jerusalem where israeli police say a truck rammed into a group of soldiers at a popular promenade. israeli radio reports three soldiers have been killed. initial reports said at least 15 soldiers injured, two critically. officials say the driver was shot and killed. we'll keep you updated as we get more information. now to the dangerous storms on both coasts. the deadly winter storm in the east is still forcing road closures and flight cancellations. let's bring in meteorologist bonnie schneider.

good morning, bonnie. >> good morning, dara. boy, did we see a lot of flight cancellations and delays. looking at temperatures really cold behind the storm. waking up to frigid numbers in the teens and single digits. off to the west the temperature is not as much of an issue as moisture, plume of proper cal moisture coming in known as atmospheric river across pacific. rain is coming down in san francisco. it's going to accumulate to dangerous amounts because this storm actually has warmer air with it as well. as that comes over the snowpack, which is already so high we're looking at a risk for flooding. a big risk going forward monday straight through wednesday these storms will be in the news. another thing we're talking about is the snow. really, really high snowfall totals. 3 to 5 feet going up to high elevations mount shasta along sierra nevada. it might sound great for skiers but that's a lot of snow to get through even for an experienced driver. out west just moisture is piling on. dara. >> bonnie, thank you so much.

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