>> just one thing to say to you, and that's i'm not tiny. i'm 6'1". that's all for us tonight. i'm wolf blitzer in for anderson cooper. we begin with a wintry blast of weather right before thanksgiving. that if you're traveling over the next couple of days threatens to make it difficult. hundreds are stranded. the ripple effect is only just beginning. at street level the situation is not much better. sleet and freezing rain in the southern plains and rockies. in oklahoma city, an suv slides on the icy road and slips off the roadway. all caught on video. meanwhile, up to eight inches forecast for new mexico. heavy rain from texas to georgia, in a moment we'll get the latest on the flight situation and you will find out

what to expect over the next few days. but it is not just inconvenience we're talking about. already there have been 12 deaths blamed on this storm. jason carroll reports. >> reporter: the killer storm started in california where it claimed its first life. it continued its delmar across the country. flooding in arizona. heavy snow in colorado. and in new mexico, wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour, producing blinding sleet and snow. >> just stings your skin to be outside. >> reporter: two people died in new mexico. one, a 4-year-old girl when the car she was riding in slid off the road. in texas, five people were killed on the road, three of them in this pile-up on interstate 40, including one man and to help and was hit by another vehicle. in eastern texas, country star willy nelson's tour bus plowed

into a bridge pillar, sending three of his band members to the hospital. the storm caused hundreds of crashes throughout the country, including this driver in oklahoma, whose car skidded off the road and then flipped. amazingly, he walked away from the crash. others have not been so lucky. four died in the state. beyond severe conditions on the roads, hundreds of flights have been cancelled with many more expected as the storm lumbers on towards population centers in the east. the south is getting heavy rains before the storm turns to the northeast. and that is what has many people in this region bracing for the worst this thanksgiving week with an estimated 43 million people who are expected to travel during the holiday. many are weighing their options, trying to balance safety with seeing their loved ones. jason carroll, cnn, new york. and joining us now with the latest, nick valencia, at the dallas/ft. worth national

airport, and in the cnn weather center, chad myers, our meteorologist, chad, the storm is just getting started, what can we expect in the next couple of days? >> yeah, we're in a lull, as the storm spread over texas and new mexico last night, it's kind of stalled a little bit. gone to the gulf of mexico and picking up moisture and run itself up the east coast. what we'll expect, wolf, if you're on this side of the storm which most people will be here, from new york down to d.c. and raleigh, that is all rain. along the low, is all ice. here is the snow, cold, middle, warm. that is the issue, depending on where you're going, how far you're traveling. if you're driving, a lot of these interstates will be the mess, as the lull comes out of the gulf, bringing rain and moisture with it. all of a sudden, it encounters the cold air that is there. already it is cold in buffalo, pittsburgh, cleveland, down into columbus, ohio, and then the rain and cold will mix together

with freezing rain, sleet, and on the back side, snow. i don't think snow will be the really big problem with this. sure, there could be some in spots that can't handle it, buffalo, rochester, new york, watertown, and even 4 to 6 inches in pittsburgh and parts of ohio. but it will be the ice, just east of the area right through here is where the ice will be, that is why we have all the watches and warnings posted, wolf. >> all right, you will be a busy guy, thank you. let's go back to nick. you've seen hundreds of cancellations at the dallas airport, things are beginning to get back on track at least where you are? >> reporter: that is right, wolf, but it did have a hard impact across the country. as you know, dallas is a main hub, a lot of flights coming into this airport and leaving. in the last two days, we have had about 480 flights cancelled. airport officials say they're trying to preempt a lot of passengers stranded here in the airport. they do tell us, though, wolf, that the worst has passed. but thousands of passengers expecting to get on their flights have been affected,

wolf? >> how are people reacting to obviously a stressful trip right now? >> reporter: well, it is a mixed reaction, the passengers we have spoken to, some felt they were not warned enough by the airports, others felt they got enough communication and that the airlines gave them enough of a heads-up. american airlines is the carrier with the most cancellations. good news to report. a little while, cnn heard from delta. and those traveling on that airline should not expect cancellations, no cancellations on tuesday, although anyone traveling over the course of the next couple of days should expect delays, wolf? >> let's go back to chad, hold on a moment. chad, looking beyond thanksgiving. people have to travel back home over the course of the weekend. what do we anticipate? >> it will be a problem, wolf, as i think we will see just wind and no other issues after that. wolf? >> just a lot of wind, friday, saturday, sunday? >> yeah, could have airport delays because of the wind, but otherwise we're in good shape. so is nick.

>> a lot of people will be traveling. a lot of people will be sad if families can't be reunited at least on thanksgiving. all right, nick valencia, chad myers, thank you both. a few weeks shy of a tragic and solemn anniversary in newtown, connecticut. a day no one will forget. on december 24th, 20-year-old adam lanza killed his mother in their home and then stormed to sandy hook elementary school. today, the summary the investigation was released, that went on for almost a year. susan candiotti reports on their findings. >> reporter: among the evidence released publicly for the first time, dozens of photos of sandy hook elementary school. and of gunman adam lanza's nearby home. here, the shattered glass at the entrance to the school. lanza blasted through a window to bypass the locked door and began his shooting spree.

we see the bushmaster gun used to kill 20 children and six adults, in less than 11 minutes. found the shooter's gun, the glock handgun he used to kill himself all bought legally by his mother. >> she may have thought this was a way to control him or got through to him so she had had a fascination with guns herself, so a way for them connect but absolutely the wrong way to do it. >> reporter: one question that remains unanswered, why? the 44-page state's attorney's report concludes that the evidence clearly shows that the shooter clearly planned his actions but there is no clear indication why he did so or why adam lanza targeted sandy hook, a school wre used to go. what emerges is a picture of a deeply troubled 20-year-old, a loner, obsessed with mass murder. he spent hours a day playing

video and computer games, many violent, including "call of duty." another called "school shootings." the report also references a video not shown to the public. another report not shown, images of lanza pointing guns to his head. and surprisingly, he seemed fixated on the video game, "dance, dance revolution." and spend hours a day playing it at a theater down the street. his computer hard drive was smashed making it nearly impossible to retrieve information. but investigators found a spread sheet detailing mass murders, including this "new york times" 1891 article about a catholic school shooting in upstate new york. the report said that lanza not only suffered from asberger's syndrome, he also had mental problems, plagued with odd

habit, changing his clothes several times a day, obsessed with how his food was on his plate. he wouldn't even allow his mother in his room, even to clean it. >> it seemed like as time went on, he started to move towards more psychotic behavior. as well as you see some compulsive disorder traits, paranoia going on, and paints a picture of someone who was extremely difficult to manage. >> his bedroom was covered with black garbage bags. lanza hated birthdays, christmas and holidays, and even after superstorm sandy, refused to stay at a hotel. he also did not like being touched. >> susan candiotti joins us now, how are the victim's families reacting to the report? >> well, first i can tell you they were all briefed or read the report before it was released to the public. and one family in particular, the family of victoria soto, the

family of the brave teacher who tried to help the children, the family says after reading the report, they can't make sense of the report and they say that they doubt anyone else ever will. wolf? >> all right, thank you, susan, let us know what you think, using the tweet, ac360. and coming up, the president defended the historic deal to eliminate iran's nuclear program. that is next. and later, more indictments in the rape of a 16-year-old girl in steubenville, ohio, allegations of a cover-up at the high school. four employees accused with everything from evidence tampering to obstruction of justice.

in raw politics, some unscripted moments for president obama today. the president was in san francisco today speaking about immigration reform when he was interrupted by an audience member who asked him to stop deportations. watch this. >> will strengthen our families, and most importantly -- most important, we will live up -- >> the families -- >> most importantly, we -- >> i need some help here -- there are thousands immigrants. >> that is exactly what we're talking about. >> every single day. >> that is why we're here. >> please, use your executive order to halt deportation for all. you have the power to stop the deportation for all of them. >> actually, i don't. and that is why we're here. >> i need your help. >> okay. >> stop deportation. >> thank you. all right.

what i would like to do -- no, no, don't worry about it, guys, let me finish. let me -- how about -- these guys don't need to go. let me finish. no, no, no, you can stay there. let me -- [ cheers and applause ] >> hold on a second. hold on a second. so -- you know, i respect the passion of these young people. because they feel deeply about the concerns for their families. >> all right, let's bring in our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, joining us from the white house. it is pretty unusual to be heckled by the people that are supposedly vetted to be standing behind the president. i've been to a lot of these. i've seen it but not usually the people hand-picked standing behind the president. >> reporter: that is right, the

people usually standing behind him are there, while he hammers home the message. that was not the case today, but it turns out actually our crew in san francisco had a chance to catch up with this student. his name is 24-year-old ju hong, a student at san francisco state university. he said he got an invitation to this event, so it is not like he snuck in. >> i need your help. >> you know, i was going to say the president -- you know, he didn't have the hecklers thrown out. actually, he turned around, engaged them and had a little conversation with them. he has done this before. but usually once again, like i said, they're from the audience when he deals with them, not usually people standing behind him. >> reporter: i think this young man, ju hong, he feels very passionate about this event. we learned after that that was is undocumented. originally from south korea, and because of his undocumented status he can't go back and

visit his sick grandmother, his family in south korea, so he sort of feels stuck here. and he wanted to speak on behalf of all undocumented students across the country, he said. he said that the president should use his executive order powers to basically legalize all the undocumented immigrants out there, stop the deportations, get the legalization process going, as the president explained at that event, he just can't do that. >> and before you go, jim, let me raise another issue, the u.s. dealing with iran on its nuclear program. what more are we learning about this historic deal, as it came about, including secret talks that the u.s. was having at a high level order in oman, give us a little bit more. >> reporter: we picked up as the deal was reached on saturday as the senior administration officials told us, that yes, in the months leading up to this agreement, senior u.s. officials were meeting with iranian officials, secretly. this was not known to the public of course around the world that

these talks were going on. but in addition to that, wolf, two years prior to all of this getting going, secretary of state john kerry, when he was senate foreign relations committee chair, he made trips out to oman to see if omanis were interested in being conduits for this sort of agreement. and apparently they gave him the green light to set up talks that were taking place in oman in the last several months. so secretary kerry's work, even before he was secretary of state, that really helped to facilitate this deal, and kind of got it off the ground to find a secret locations where these official could have these unknown talks. it was a big part of this deal, wolf. >> yes, very important. jim acosta, thanks very much. i spoke with the white house representative who had not been informed of these secret talks in oman the past year or so.

let's discuss what is going on with mike durant of the brookings institution, and marie slaughter, the former director of policy planning at the state department. ann marie, you think this deal is a good step forward, but what about the concept skepticism in washington and abroad that iran simply cannot be trusted? >> well, wolf, the first thing to say is, it is not a final deal. it is an interim agreement that gives us six months of breathing space, where iran -- its nuclear program is halted and indeed, actually pushed back a little to give us time to see if we can get to a final conclusion. and i think you have to understand it against the back drop of three basic options. i mean, either we do nothing and iran continues to move toward a nuclear weapon, or we get a verifiable agreement that actually stops that progress, or there is a military strike against iran.

so against that back drop, this seems to me, a real step forward. >> yeah, and you're familiar with the fact that the state department to this day considers iran a state sponsor of terrorism. but we now know over the past year or so, high ranking department officials were meeting secretly with the high ranking iranian officials in oman. and you believe this is extraordinary, tell us why. >> well, it is extraordinary because you know, the hostages were taken when i was a junior in college. and that was some time ago. you know, there has been over 30 years of total enmity between us and iran. and when president obama did come to power, when he became president he said you know, we will extend our hand if you will unclinch your fists. and now, finally, through diplomacy we are at least making some progress, which could be not only hugely important on the nuclear question, but also for a final settlement in afghanistan

and even possibly for syria. >> mike, you're pessimistic about this six-month interim deal, but isn't six months of maybe testing iranian intentions better than maybe the military option, if you will? >> well, i wouldn't put it that way. because the fact is we've already made major concessions up front. we've already given them the right to enrich. we've basically shredded six security council resolutions that say they shouldn't enrich uranium. we gave them concessions up front for basically a commitment they won't go nuclear for six months. so we bought six months of talks. we're paying them to negotiate with us and we're paying a very, very, very heavy price. >> when you say the u.s. is paying a very heavy price, administration officials say it is a relatively modest price, a relatively modest easing of sanctions in order to make sure iran does not go forward and accelerate its production, potentially, of a nuclear bomb.

>> well, like i said, there were six u.n. security council resolutions, resolutions that russia and china voted for. those were very hard to achieve. and they gave us the legitimacy for the sanctions. so we have shredded those. and we're creating a lobby now, an international economic lobby that is going to be dedicated to eroding the sanctions that exist. it is very difficult to ratchet in a different direction. we started to ratchet down, and clearly haven't gotten anything for it. >> ann marie, you're shaking your head. go ahead. >> first of all, we're giving them about six to seven billion dollars relief in sanctions. and that is things like car parts. the ability to pay for tuition for students overseas. the big money is in oil. their oil reserves have gone down from a hundred billion, the money on the reserves, to $35 billion. they're going to lose more in

one month from the sanctions than the relief we're giving them. so this is a very limited, targeted reversible relief. and what we get for it is not only six months where they're not going to enrich, but actually this is going to make it harder for them to break out. it actually makes it a longer time for them to break out toward a nuclear weapon if that is something that they were to choose to do. so we're getting a goal -- >> we'll wrap this up, the argument is made if the iranians cheat and lie and don't honor what they have committed themselves to right now, the argument is there to resume those sanctions and even tighten them further. >> very hard to put the tooth paste back in the tube. and the argument is we effectively gave them the right to enrich, we gave them that up front, and can't take it back. >> mike and ann marie, thanks very much.

for more on this story, go to cnn.com. just ahead there are new charges in the steubenville rape case. plus, important information about the morning after pill. research that shows it stops working when women reach a certain weight.

in crime and punishment, a grand jury has indicted four more people in connection with the 2012 rape of a 16-year-old girl in steubenville, ohio, photos and videos of the event made their way to social media and attracted national attention. this past march, two football players at the local high school were convicted of the rap. the case is still rocking the community of steubenville.

all the adults indicted are school employees, including the school superintendent who now faces three felony counts. one question many people are asking tonight -- what took so long for these new indictments to be handed up? cnn correspondent jean casarez is joining us now. what about that, jean? jean, why did the indictments take so long? >> you know, wolf i think we need to look at the time line. as you just said, the football players were convicted in march of raping a 16-year-old high school girl. the grand jury, then, convened in april. remember, the grand jury are four adults. 123 witnesses, there were 18 days of testimony. the grand jury doesn't meet every single day, and during that time, the investigators had to investigate, and as we heard from the attorney general and as we knew, this case is all about text messages, photos, video, they had to look through hundreds of things that would become the needle in the hay stack that would become the

evidence. and if you're talking about a obstructing judge, trying to hide things that occurred, you're only deleting things. so that made it more difficult for the investigators. but ultimately, i think the question many people have is why only four people were charged. and the answer to that from the attorney general is that the grand jury spoke. they heard from many people. they could have indicted others. but they chose to say that only four people, probable cause to commit a crime, that that was in the hands of four. >> and explain exactly what these school employees are charged? >> well, the superintendent of schools is the most serious, because there are three felonies, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, two counts. then falsification for obstructing a legal proceeding. they're trying to show that the superintendent was trying to hide that crimes were committed. as far as assistant football coach and an assistant wrestling coach, they were charged with things varying from failure to

report that the child abuse had occurred because that is the duty of a school administrator or teacher. and with the assistant football coach, very interesting, his father owned the home, his parents did, he lived there, but apparently one the parties was at the house because he was charged with allowing minors to drink and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. that is the first charge we have seen of that type in this case. >> you spoke with the attorney. what did you learn? >> this is interesting, she is charged with failure to report child abuse. he wants it very clear. it is not in regard to the steubenville rape case as we know it. it is in regard to an alleged rape that happened before august of 2012. a rape that has never been prosecuted. a rape that he says never happened because there is no victim. she failed to report that instance of child abuse. and he says that she is innocent.

a 30-year educator, a great person. and what he is concerned about is that she could lose her teaching credential, her administrator credential, something that is unwarranted because she didn't commit a crime, he says. >> all right, jean casarez reporting, thank you very much. let's get caught up on other stories, susan hendricks has a 360 news and business bulletin. susan? and the contractor who oversaw a botched building is charged with reckless endangerment, six people were killed in the june building collapse. 13 others were injured. an italian prosecutor is urge than -- urging an appeals court to reinstate the guilty verdict against amanda knox for the 2007 murder of her roommate. the american was convicted in 2009 and then freed on appeal two years later. the fda is reviewing whether morning after contraception pills lose effectiveness in women weighing more than 160 pounds. this comes after the study shows the drug stopped working when

women reached a certain weight. and manufacturer of a pill similar to that adding a warning label about the weight concerns. and for less than $30, here is your chance to own artwork by former president george w. bush, the bush center is selling this ornament, featuring a cardinal, as you can see, he is known to be a pretty good artist. not bad. >> i have seen some of his work lately. i must say it is pretty good. have you seen that? >> i have, the dog that he painted. >> i saw that after being president. >> exactly. >> pretty cool. all right, susan, thank you very much. just ahead, hannah williams' adoptive parents will spend decades in prison for her death. but the code that includes spanking and discipline were not even charged in this case, why not? plus, the latest on the nasty weather that is on track to turn thanksgiving weather and travel treacherous.

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tonight, a 360 follow-up about a parenting book embraced by some fundamentalist christians, called "to train up a child." and it advises parents to make their children to bay, without question, by spanking them from the time they are babies. coauthors instruct the parents to use switches and belts and even tubings when giving spankings. they were asked to show exactly what they mean. >> that hurts, and i'm 50.

okay -- you know -- >> any marks on you? >> no, but you would hit a 5-year-old like this? >> yes. sure. >> a number of deaths now have been linked to the pearl's book, including the death of hannah williams, her adoptive parents were sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. gary tuchman now. >> reporter: larry williams is the husband, carri williams, the wife. together, they were parents of eight. but now it is seven, the daughter they adopted from ethiopia is dead, some say they're the parents from hell. can i just ask you, did you love this child? can you just answer that question, did you love this child? >> the question is did hana die in the name of god? the williams lived in a large piece of secluded land in

washington. the investigators found hana face down outside the house with mud in her mouth and not breathing. but there is so very much she left out. >> the day of her death was not the first day she had been struck. >> reporter: here is what the affidavit said, hana had marks on her hid and markings on her hips, knees, elbows and face. and when doctors performed her autopsy, they declared the 13-year-old was abnormally thin and on the forehead was a hematoma, bruises on the upper right and left pelvis area, bruises on the legs, prosecutors questioned whether the bruises came because of biblical teachings. the other children who implicate their parents in the affidavit, say that hana was often left outside as cold for discipline because she rebelled. hana was so weakened from the discipline, hours from the cold

was more than she could take according to the authorities. but listen to the 911 call from the mother to the police. look who she blames for the death. >> what is your emergency? >> yes. i think my daughter just killed herself. >> why do you say that? >> she is really rebellious, and she has been outside refusing to come in. and she has been throwing herself all around. and then she collapsed. >> if you didn't stand exactly where you were supposed to stand, that would be considered rebellious. and you could be punished for that. >> reporter: in the affidavit, hana's 9-year-old brother told detectives that people like his sister got spankings for lying and going to the fires of hell. he stopped talking to authorities after that. we met larry williams with his attorney in court during a motion hearing. mr. williams, tell us what happened to your daughter. what do you think god thinks about this case, sir? among the evidence found in the

house, a variety of books and videotapes by well-known fundamentalist christian authors, michael and deborah pearl, including the book called "to train up a child," which is a best selling book which advocates corporal punishment of children from infant on up. the authors of the cook say the book is guided by the teachings in the bible. >> it says if you spare the rod, you hate your child. but if you love him, you chasten him timely. >> reporter: i interviewed the pearls because of a chillingly similar case. ken and elizabeth shotts are now in prison after convicted of killing their daughter, lydia, also from africa. taken from their evidence, also the book, "train up a child." michael ramsey is the d.a. who prosecuted the schott's. what do you think influenced the shotts to beat, terrorize and torment them? >> the book by mr. pearl, no doubt about it.

>> reporter: let's say a 7-year-old slugs his sister. >> you explain it is violent, not acceptable in society or in our home. and i would take him somewhere in his bedroom, and would tell him i'm going to give him 15 licks. >> reporter: with what? >> probably a belt, a kid that big, a boy, i would probably use a belt that would be handy. i might use a wooden spoon or -- a piece of like -- plumbing supply line. >> reporter: a plumbing supply line, one of the pieces of evidence larry williams gave the sheriff's deputies in washington state after authorities said he acknowledged he and his wife used it to strike their children. mrs. williams, do you like the book "to train up a child"? >> we have no comments today. >> reporter: can you tell us what happened to your daughter, though, do you still say she killed herself? excuse me, sir? >> no comment today. >> reporter: larry and carri williams pled not guilty and were ordered out on bond, told not to talk to their surviving children, who were put in foster homes.

>> i don't use the term hiddy. >> reporter: what is the term? prosecutors say they have no plans to pursue charges against michael and deborah pearl. when i talked to the authors, they say their book rejects parents losing control and acting out of anger. so you're not accepting any blame? >> absolutely not! >> reporter: and it is the same feelings they have about the williams. they relieved a statement on their facebook page saying, we share in the sadness over the death of hana williams, what her parents did is opposed to what the book says to train a child, and continues in part, the alleged presence of the book makes it no more responsible for hana's death than the presence of a weight loss book is in the home of an overweight person is responsible for their obesity. prosecutors read the book cover-to-cover as they prepared for the trial and were able to convince a jury that hana williams died because of the parents who adopted her.

gary tuckman, cnn, skagit county, washington. let's dig deeper right now with our senior legal analyst, jeffry toobin, and advocate riva martin. the parents based their method of discipline on, they have no legal responsibility here at all. is that right? >> i think none at all. for two reasons, you can't really prove causation of a book or movie or video game. and a crime. this comes up often. we talked about the movie, "natural born killer" years ago, talking about violent video games, music, marilyn manson, it's just never -- the proof is never good enough in a court of law. also, even if you were to try to do it, there is a real first amendment, freedom of speech here. prosecuting a book author for com police -- being involved in a murder. i just don't see how it could be done in any circumstances.

>> areva, is there no point at which the family could be held criminally liable because of the teachings? is there nothing the government can do or should do about that? >> well, you know, wolf, i think one of the issues here is the knowledge of the crime. as jeffry said, there is obviously information here in this book guiding the parents on what to do to punish or discipline their child. but there is no evidence they have any knowledge with what is going on with any particular parent they didn't know what the williams would do with respect to their child. we should point out there, could be civil liability. but there are civil cases where book publishers have been sued, individuals who suffered losses individually and they have had to pay large settlements, so i don't think we should just focus on the criminal liability because i think there should be a potential here for the criminal liability. and the children, whoever become the guardians of the children, may be able to recover in a civil lawsuit. >> do you agree with that, jeffrey? >> well, that is news to me if

there have been actual civil judgments against book authors, i have never heard of it. i just think it is very difficult, even in a civil context where you don't have to use proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that a book caused an offense like this. in fairness to the pearls, they don't say kill the child. they say discipline the child. and a lot of people in this country use some form of corporal punishment, whether it is spanking or hitting even with an object. that is pretty different from something that causes the death of a child. and i am at least unaware of any court that has ordered a judgment like that? >> you want to respond -- >> yeah, let me respond to that, wolf. there is an opinion, an appellate court decision in 1997 involving the book "hit man," where there was a lawsuit filed against the publisher, and there was an out of court settlement. but the appeal court said said

the first amendment didn't apply, because this book was used to cause a triple murder of some individuals. so there is a precedent out there. there is an appellate court decision, and there is some sound legal law that can support a judgment in this case i think against the pearls. >> you know, the williams' defense told the jury that questionable parenting practices don't just amount to a crime. this was not questionable parenting practices. these two people ended up with a dead child because of what they did, right? >> again, this often unfortunately comes up with religious parents who claim some sort of religious defense for how they mistreat their children. religion is not an excuse for child abuse. period. and whether it is neglect, whether it is you know, not feeding a child. whether it is not getting medical care for a child, or actively hitting them, religion

is never going to be a defense, and that is why these people are in prison, where they should be. guys, thank you very much. up next, we will have the latest on the storm that could create problems for millions of travelers. we'll talk to a travel expert about what you need to know if you're flying over the next few days. [ male announcer ] this is jim,

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let's get back to the top story tonight, the wild, wintry weather causing a big headache for millions of people traveling just before thanksgiving. from coast-to-coast, there are all sorts of problems. snow, sleet, heavy rainfall, a dozen deaths are blamed across the country for weather across several states. chad myers is standing by with the latest. chad? >> you know, airplanes and airlines say they're not cancelling flights for tomorrow, wolf, just yet. that is like the superintendent of schools saying we won't cancel school the night before, we'll wait to see what happens when we wake up. we still have 4,600 planes in the sky at this hour right now which tells me still that airlines are trying to catch up from the back log they had earlier. here is the problem, d.c., you wake up at 34. anywhere west of vienna, and all

of a sudden it starts to rain, it's 32. we have watches and warnings all the way from canada to parts of virginia, winter storm advisories and into the upstate of south carolina, the potential for ice. ice is probably the big problem with this storm. here are the snow totals we can talk about. five inches for buffalo, deal with that. syracuse, rochester. you know, growing up in buffalo we never even cancelled school for five inches of snow, wolf. and erie, some of these spots here are not showing up a lot of snow because the freezing rain will keep that total down but freezing rain is a whole lot worse than snow to drive on. you know that. >> we never cancelled school in buffalo because we were well prepared. chazz, thanks very much. the ugly weather could impact up to 43 million americans expected to travel this holiday week. as we mentioned, hundreds of flights were cancelled at the dallas/ft. worth airport today. as the weather system moves east, more cancellations and delays are likely.

but there are things you can do to ease the pain. let's get travel tips from scott mccartney, the travel journalist for "the wall street journal." he knows what he is talking about. scott, the travel season can be rather trying, you say you can help yourself out by knowing the weather not only where you are but where you're going. and also where you may be connecting. explain. >> reporter: yeah, where you're connecting may be the most important factor in your trip. if you know the weather will be bad in charlotte, even though you're going from say florida, to california and the weather is fine in both places, you may be suffering big-time delays. the quicker you figure that out, call the airlines. see if you can re-route through a hub in houston or dallas or someplace that no longer is affected by this storm. >> you also say sign up for those flight alert services. they could really help, right?

>> yeah, they really can. and not just from your airline, but also a service like flightstats.com, and flightaware.com. flightstats gets information from faa computers and airlines, at the airport. you can be standing at the gate and get information from the flight service long before the agent figures out your flight has been cancelled. you get a little jump on everybody else and you will be first in line for rebooking, or get that early alert of gate changes. it can really help. it really gives you peace of mind that you will get help with your particular flight. >> scott, this goes against what i would have thought. but you say if you need to re-book a flight, do that at the airport and not over the phone. why? >> because the airport agents can be much more effective than telephone agents, especially when so many airlines have outsourced telephone service.

you can face very long waits on the phone and not get great service. if the airport is convenient to you, go to the airport. if you're able to go early for your trip, you know, if you could travel tomorrow and avoid wednesday, i think that would be really prudent. go to the airport, some people may be canceling their trips. there may be open seats. so if you're there and you get a helpful agent, you can grab something a whole lot better than what you get just sitting back and waiting. >> yeah, you might be speaking to somebody in a call center. all right, that is good advice, thank you very much, scott mccartney helping us. and don't forget, cnn, the top of the weather all holiday week, this is the place to be. we'll get you all the information you need to know. we'll be right back.

50 years ago today, on one of the saddest days in american history, president john f. kennedy was laid to rest at arlington national cemetery, three days after he was assassinated in dallas, texas. some historians say it was the first time the nation mourned this way together watching television. it was a day full of iconic moments from the broken note of a bugler playing taps, to jfk saluting his father's coffin.

as one story goes, he had been practicing the salute since veteran's day, and got it right on this day. a day that will live forever in the american collective memory. that is it for anderson cooper 360. "early start" starts right now. the damage that is causing from the weather and chaos to come for those traveling on the holiday. could u.s. troops be pulled out of afghanistan by next year? tensions rising over tough negotiations with the country's president. we are live with the very latest on that. details relieved about what happened the day 20-year-old killed dozens inside a connecticut elementary school. but a mystery still remains. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." happy you're with us this morning. happy you're with us, christine romans. >> i'm in for john