making news in america this morning. a major winter weather storm crushing the roof of an nfl stadium, closing airports and plunging temperatures in 30 states. and it's not done yet. democrat drama. infighting could peak today at an important first vote. and masterpiece mystery like something out of "the da vinci code." a surprising new discovery in a 500-year-old painting. good morning, everyone. i'm mike marusarz in for rob nelson. >> and i'm vinita nair. a deadly snowstorm that grounded flights and brought whiteout conditions has brought another swath through the country.

>> in minneapolis, check this out, the tech dome roof broke under the weight of he have snow. >> this is the snow now dumping snow on ohio and pennsylvania. >> reporter: as residents of the upper midwest start their week digging out from all of that snow, places like indianapolis and cleveland are getting ready for their own walloping. the storm packed i powerful punch over the weekend you dumping over a foot and a half of snow. this snowstorm will go down in the history books. in minneapolis, incredible video shows the roof of the metrodome stadium collapsing. >> the last time this occurred was 1983. >> reporter: luckily nobody was hurt. lucked out in the cold, minnesota fans with game tickets.

>> a really big bummer. i wish they would take to us detroit but i don't think it's going to happen. >> reporter: 29 states are getting pounded from the great lakes all the way to the gulf of mexico. >> a massive storm, thunderstorms on the southernnd and it continues pushing through the country. >> reporter: some art 3s of wisconsin saw two feet of snow, high winds made it seem like 20 degrees below zero. over 1,400 flights were canceled in chicago airports. but if you have nowhere to go this weekend, the snow delivered some fun. >> we can have snowball fights and make snowmans. >> reporter: this winter storm now heads to the east coast, even parts of florida will see temperatures in the mid-20s. karen travers, abc news. and that storm now moves into an area that has already seen several feet of snow. >> accuweatherer.com ava dinges

has the forecast this morning. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and mike. the worst of the snow may be over for the northwest but now comes the lake-effect system. with the harsh colding moving into the ohio and upstate new york. some of those snow bands may be dropping at least 1 to 2 feet of snow. that's going to create whiteout conditions along i-80 and i-90. starting off in the 20s in the northern tier, it could be colder by tuesday morning. now back to you, vinita and mike. >> ava, thanks. snow piles up the northwest, the pacific northwest is getting rainfall. >> up toinches of rain fell in washington and oregon yesterday, triggering widespread flooding and mud slides. hundreds of homes were evacuated and some people had to be rescued from rising waters. >> lots to talk about. and our team of reporters will show us the latest conditions coming up on "good morning

america." >> battle over the contentious tax cut deal. lawmakers are poised to hold a key test vote. david kerleyly has more from washington. >> reporter: hours before the first vote you democrats are still loudly grumbling about 9 president's tax deal. >> today, with the majority in the house, the majority in the senate and we control the presidency and we're acting like we have a weak hand. >> reporter: but republicans suggest this deal is take it or leave it. >> answer is no. the answer is no. we're not interested in changing this deal. per interested in passing this through. >> reporter: the senate is expecteded to pass it through, zending all bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. and tax credits to stimulate the company. but what surprised even outraged democrats are the new estate taxes. the president's deal would set a tax rate of 35% on estates over $5 million. much less than democrats plan for a 45% rate that ticks in at

just $3.5 million. so democrats are expected to demand changes. the white house says the tax cut won't pass if democrats do seek major changes. >> we have a framework, we have an agreement. i don't anticipate it's going to change greatly. >> reporter: democrats on both sides say they plan to fight but they can signal they're not going to block passage. >> we're not going to hold this thing up at the end of the day. >> reporter: so expect those house democrats to make a lot of noise but with time running out on the label duck session and the options are running out for those democrats. david kerley, abc news. >> the controversial head of the republican national committee is expected to 'nouns today he will not seek a second term. michael steele has been under fire for not raising enough money for the party. he's also been caught up in several widely public la sized

scandals. a lot of already known republicans say they want the job. richard holbrooke is in critical condition after undergoing a second surgery. he suffered a torn aorta last week. doctors worked for 20 hours to repair the damage. holbrooke had additional procedure sunday to improve circulation. several suspects have been arrested after a car bomb attack in afghanistan killed six american soldiers. it's in in the reporter tyler hicks managed to obtain these remarkable images. now for this morning's weather from around the nation.o in addition to the heavy snow and biting temperatures in the midwest, freeze warnings stretch across the entire gulf coast from southern texas to florida. 6 to 10 inches of snow in the northern rockies and lingering showers from seattle to portland. the southwest is the only warm spot in the country. >> 70s in phoenix and southern california. a bitter minus 3 in the twin cities. just 4 degrees in fargo, and

teens from omaha to detroit. 40 here in new york and 30 in atlanta. well, if he wasn't already in it, president obama got some help with his christmas spirit last night. some young elves put presents under the tree. >> then a pregnant mariah carey and others sung for the first lady. mr. president asked the crowd to remember the troops and the unemploymented this holiday season. when we come back this monday, stormy weather in parts the world creating troubles for hundreds of cruise ship passengers. and a real life mona lisa mist toe. never before seen symbols discovered insof the painting.a flight to hawaii

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overseas markets are starting the week on a positive note. tokyo nikkei average rose 0.8%. hong kong's hang seng is higher. in london the'so opened higher. the nasdaq climbed 46 points. fedex is offering the latest evidence the economic recovery is gaining some steam. the company predicts today will be the busiest day of the year with about 16 million packages shipped globally. that's up nearly 13% from last year. the forecast from both fedex and u.p.s. are considered barometers for the health of the economy. well, the popular blog publisher gawker media is suggesting all its users change its passwords after an attack. the company owns gorginger.

jez sa bell, gizmoto and other websites. the hacker has claimed to have taken over 1 million user names and passwords. well, it was a weak opening weekend for a couple of high profile movies. the latest chapter in the chronicles of narnia opened. john nah dep and angelina jolie's thriller "the tourist" opened second with $17 million. and "tangled" made it to third. bernard madoff commits suicide. could the 2-year-old grandson be liable in the fraud. did an nfl coach intentionally trip an opposing player? hi. chili's tonight? do i know you? yeah. your mother's brother went to summer camp with my uncle's friend's accountant. we're practically family.

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about this morning. the damage 17 inches of snow can cause. the huge inflatable roof of the metrodome in minneapolis has a huge hole in that after the most snow in almost two decades. they hope to repair the hole by next week for "monday night football." the vikings/jets game will take place in detroit tonight. >> well, that snow already on the ground makes for a slippery commute in the upper midwest today. ice and snow covering i-90 from indiana to upstate new york. and on i-81 from tennessee to west virginia. wet on i-5 from seattle to portland. snow on i-15. 84 and 90 in the northern rockies. >> if you are flying today expect airport in seattle, detroit, boston, new york, philly and d.c. >> there's also been some harsh weather across the middle east region. powerful waves pounded red sea

beach resorts and powerful winds whipped through coastal areas from egypt to lebanon leaving behind some damage. >> but the pors of it may have been felt by passengers in a royal crib yang cruise liner in the eastern mediterranean. the brilliant of the seas" was battered by heavy waves sunday that it actually tilted 30 degrees. >> everything sort of fell off their shelves in my state room. but i heard people with more damage. television sets falling on the ground and breaking and telephone lines coming out of the wall. >> dozens of passengers were treated on board after suffering some minor injuries. we're told most of those on the ship are americans. and there are fears that 22 sailors are dead after their fishing boat went down in some of the world's most remote waters. the south korean vessel sunk about 1,400 north of new zealand. 2,200 sailors were pulled from

the frigid waters. bernard madoff victims are now headed to court. they will continue building the case despite the suicide of madoff's older son this weekend. >> reporter: though mark madoff has killed himself, it does not end the legal troubles for his family. his 2-year-old and 4-year-old are named in the lawsuit, by the trustee, trying to recovery some of the billions of dollars lost by victims of the ponzi scheme. >> where do all the money coming from that the brothers seem to are. children in private schools? >> reporter: madoff apparently timed his suicide to coincide with the second anniversary of his father's arrest. mark madoff lost friends after the scandal and those who knew him tell us he had lost hope and may have been comblating suicide for some time. criminal charges were possible. in an e-mail to his attorney he said, no one wants to hear the

truth. he added. take care of my family. the suicide inside his living room came as mark madoff had been try trog pull his life together. he thought nobody else would hire him considered building his own business in public relations. his wife stephanie has told friends he has no plans to return here to the couple's apartment. >> reporter: the medical examiner confirmed madoff's death a suicide. the body will be released to his family. it's unclear whether prison officials would allow bernie madoff to attend or whether the family would want him there. sarah palin has wrapped up a visit to haiti by urging americans not to forget the earthquake-ravaged country. palin spoke after visiting a cholera clinic. more than 2,000 people have died of cholera and nearly 100,000 have gotten sick. the baltimore ravens visit the houston texans in a

regularly scheduled "monday night football" game as we mentioned the vikings and jets are playing in detroit because of weather. we get some of yesterday's action from espn news. good morning, i'm don bell on your espn news update. and we start with a blustery game in the windy city. bears taking on the patriots. jay cutler. game time temperature 26 degrees. wind gusts in the 30s. other than that, a beautiful day that chicago. first quarter, no score. patriots, that's tom brady to rob gronkowski. patriots up 7-0. second quarter, bears trailing 14-0. jay cutler complete to johnny knox, but the knox, but the ball is ripped lose by devin mccourty. he's going the other way for the touchdown. 35 yards on the play. they would review it and the play would stand right there. knox was knocked down on the tackle. seven seconds remaining in the half, patriots already up by four touchdowns. tom brady, he threw two scores

in the game, that one to deion branch, 59 yards on the play. patriots going on to win big time, 36-7. all right, michael vick and the eagles visiting the cowboys. pick it up in the second quarter, game tied at 7-7. this is on third day. play action pass. vick to tom heraman. fourth quarter, game tied at 20-20. vick, a laser to desean jackson. michael jenkins tries to make a play but he didn't get there in time, neither did the rest of the defense. desean, that one goes down as a 91-yard score. and the eagles go on to win it 30-27. by the way, everybody say fan of michael vick, including tashard choice who went to get the quarterback's autograph. that is your espn news update. i'm dong bell, back to you in in new york.

you might consider this the low life of nfl action. check out jets assistant sal owe lohse, calling his own conduct inexcusable and unsportsman-like. he also apologized to the dolphins who actually won the game 10-6. he could be punished by the jets or by the league. well, it seemed like a plot straight from "the da vinci code." in a serious symbols can be seen on with a magnifying glass. >> the letters "lv" appear in the right eye, an appearance reference to leonardo de vinci himself. the symbols in the left eye can't be clear. >> experts decided to look at these eyes because they found a book in an teak shop that said there were symbols. >> you always hear people say there are faces in toasting and what not. this is proof.

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midwest. the storm is move to get east and dipping as far south as florida. the senate is expected to approve the tax cut deal between president obama. and republicans in a key test vote today. the democrats are sill angry over a compromise to extend the bush tax cuts. we will find out whether the head of the republican national convention intends to run for a second term. michael steele may announce he's stepping down. president obama visits the washington, d.c. elementary school to sign a bill calling for healthier standards for school programs and school vending machines. and new york city mayor michael bloomberg headlines a launch ever a new independent political group. the group called "no labors" group, yesterday, bloomberg empathically denied he had any interests in running for president. >> for some of you your local news is next. for everyone else, the top

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next at 4:30. an incredibly brutal attack. a 13-year-old girl and child fighting to sbief after being sexually assaulted and stabbed by a 14-year-old boy. also, no tackles and no tax, just one big drop, a wild weather and could mess up travel nationwide today. >> back home, it's quiet. we do have clouds and mild temp well, finally, 'tis the season to wrap up the long year a long list of, well, lists. this morning, we go from famous

one-liners to viral videoslly io are virtually impossible to live down. >> a librarian at yale has compiled the most memorable quotes of the year, and believe it or not, there was a tie for first place. >> i'm not a witch. >> reporter: of course that was tea party favorite christine o'donnell when she was running for senate earlier in her career, she admitted to dabbling in witchcraft, in this ad, she tried to tell voters but as you know, she lost. that is then bp ceo tony hayward yearning for his comfortable life while suffering devastating oil spis. >> of course, there are other notable quotes of the year, airline passenger telling a tsa worker, "if you touch my junk, i will have you arrest the." >> and sarah palin's message to her twitter followers, "don't retreat, instead, reload."

can you see the entire list at abcnews.com. the first one, the darling 13-year-old, his name is grayson. this is him playing paparazzi while at a music recital. >> it looks like maybe a little career spun by youtube. the other one was a parody of kesha "ticktock" by the musical sketch web series. it's kind of funny. >> it is funny. something like 51 million views for this. >> last but not least, certainly, the face most people recognize, the face of antoine dodson. the 24-year-old student. his younger sister almost raped. and this went on to the huge viral hit, 61 million views. so many people seeing it. >> it seems like a lot of those