and making news on this monday, december 27th. a post-holiday whiteout along the east coast. we've got full coverage of the blizzard that's making a mess for millions right now. plus, nowhere to go at the airport. airlines canceling thousands of flights. delays now being measured in days. and blown out in philadelphia. so much snow that the nfl even decided to put the brakes on a game. our blizzard coverage starts now. good morning, everyone. i'm mike marusarz sitting in for for vinita nair. >> and i'm rob nelson. an unusual blizzard has now stranded thousands on the east coast. here's what is looks like right now in a very snowy times square

here in new york right now. a mess out there. midweek until travel is back to normal on the nation's roads, rails and also in the air. >> and it's going to take longer than that to dig out of the record snow that's been dumped in some areas. emily schmidt is braving the cold this morning and she's in washington. hello, emily. >> reporter: rob and mike, good morning to you. here in washington, the windchill in the single digits just a couple hours up the road, we're talking about snowfall in the double digits. some people are braising for up to 2 feet of snow. an all-out blizzard of 2010. all along the east coast, post-holiday blues are coming in a distinctive shade of white. >> the latest weather reports are qualifying this storm as a blizzard. and unfortunately, our city is directly in the path. >> reporter: new york city and its 6,000 miles roads could soon be under at least a foot of snow. >> we're asking everyone to stay home. >> reporter: states of emergency

haven't declared by governors from north carolina to maine. >> what can you do? >> reporter: that means thousands of travelers who hope to get home from christmas aren't getting home anytime soon. >> we had heard that they had already canceled the trains. >> reporter: amtrak canceled travel between new york and massachusetts. and with all the snow flying, people aren't. airlines canceled 1,400 flights out of new york city sunday with no simple plan "b." >> i was hung up search times and i was finally on hold for four hours before i finally talked to a human being. >> we're not used to this. >> reporter: the nor'easter began in the southeast, atlanta saw its first white christmas since 1981. as the storm moves so does the snow. maryland's governors were deployed for operation "fierceful dusting." >> very unique name. i assume it was created because we weren't supposed to get snow,

all of a sudden, it came out of nowhere. >> reporter: the snow is expected to taper off this morning. the problems won't go away easily. airlines are anticipating it could be tomorrow or even days later until flights get back to normal. rob and mike. >> all right, emily schmidt bundled up. stay warm out there reporting live from washington. thanks. as emily mentioned the blizzard is causing major travel headaches to say the least. but there's also some stunning moments, some real beauty in the midst of all of this storm. our cameras captured snow lightning near new york's central park. lightning is rarely seen with is it snowstorms, but conditions last night were just right. in asheville, north carolina, if the snowstorm wasn't bad enough, crews had to deal with an icy mess after a water main break. it left hundreds of people without any water to shower with or cook with. it could be later today before full service is restored. and the blizzard is expected to zump heavy snow in new

england and move into canada by the afternoon. >> accuweather's ava dinges has the forecast. >> hi, rob and mike. it's still snowing heavily across many cities in the east coast. we'll put radar into motion. all of that blue out there, that is the snow right now. bangor, maine, boston, new york. even some around the d.c. area, although that's definitely starting to taper off. you can see the darker shades of blue, those are the heavy snow bands. we could see 1 to 2 inches per hour. it's not just the snow we're talking about, it's the strong gusty winds and that's what's causing the blizzard-like conditions. currently wind gusts at about 26 miles per hour in new york city. boston has seen 35. and we've seen even higher gusts than this, long island has gusts as high as 60, even 70 miles per hour. that is whipping around the wind, creating the blizzard-like conditions. new york city really getting hit hard. treacherous travel out there all along the interstates and into boston. it looks like the worst is yet to come just for the morning rush hour and eventually all the snow heading into maine as well.

>> our thanks to ava dinges from accuweather. for the rest of the morning's weather from around the country, a frosty morning in the south with record lows and windchill warnings as well. parts of northern florida dips to the 20s before warming up later on today. meanwhile, rain in the pacific northwest, gusty winds along the coast and 6 inches of snow in the cascades. >> 40s in seattle and portland. 58 in sacramento. 17 in minneapolis. 27 that chicago, 30 in boston. 26 here in new york and 56 in miami. >> and you can stay tuned to abc news for continuing coverage of this massive east coast blizzard coming up later today, of course, on "good morning america." president obama and the rest of the first family, rob, avoiding that winter mess as they're on their vacation in hawaii. the president and the first lady took a break from their r & r yesterday to show appreciation to some men and women in uniform. abc's yunji de nies is with the president in honolulu. >> reporter: the president spent the day with a mix of

business and relaxation. he and the first family attended church services at the marine corps base here on the island. earlier in the day he had a counterterrorism briefing. he also called saudi king abdullah who congratulated him. the obamas had had a relaxing holiday so far with plenty of time for golf for the president and beach time together as a family. here on the islands, we are expecting a few weather woes of our own. with heavy rain forecast for the next few days, but that wet weather won't spoil the president's holiday. the highs are expected to be in the upper 70s. yunji de nies, abc news, honolulu. >> i'm jealous of the assignment she got. >> honolulu, not bad. >> not bad. when we come back this morning, retailers are hoping to keep the holiday spirit alive with plenty of sales going on. business news coming up next. and a tragedy for american tourists on the road in egypt.

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not much action in overseas stock markets this morning to kick off another holiday shortened trading week. tokyo's nikkei rose 0.75% today. markets are closed in hong kong, and in london, the dow gains

81 points last week. the nasdaq added 22 points. well, if you can get to the stores today and that say big "if" for a large chunk of the country, you should find pretty good deals. the post-christmas rush should add to what should be the best shopping season since 2007. abc's clayton sandell has more. >> reporter: on the day after christmas, the sounds of sleigh bells are being replaced with the chirping of cash registers. shoppers are out in force expecting good deals. >> if it's not half off, i'm not messing with it. >> reporter: they're finding it on everything from electronics to toys to clothes. jennifer suarez found a bargain. on jewelry and a leather jacket. >> a necklace, a shirt and a jacket, all for around 52. >> reporter: and all 50% off? >> yeah. >> reporter: for retailers, the numbers are finally heading in the right direction, after a dismal drop two years ago. this year, sales are expected to reach $451 billion. >> the consumer felt confident

enough to step up their shopping this holiday season. >> reporter: here in southern california, where it's sunny and warm, shoppers are hitting the malls, but on the east coast, i's a different story. the blizzard has threatened to >> if there keep millions away from stores. wasn't a blizzard, i'd be shopping. >> reporter: get news is, some of the best deals can be found online and out of the cold. besides weather, one downside for shoppers this year is they may find fewer items on the shelves. after slow sales in previous years, many stores ordered less inventory this year, leaving slim pickings and frustrated shoppers. >> to find a good pair of jeans is kind of tough. >> reporter: the east coast will have to dig out before shoppers come back. for retailers seeing their best season in years, the skies are already clearing. clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >> well, it should be easier to return that sweater from grandma or that gadget. many top retailers are relaxing their return policies.

stores including walmart, target and best buy are doing things like dropping restocking fees and return deadlines. >> that's nice. mussic lovers could get a bit of a break if they plan on seeing their favorite bands next year. conve concert promoters plan to make the tickets cheaper after many fans stayed home due to high prices. the promoters hope to make up difference by selling more t-shirts and other merchandise. but it wasn't a particularly happy holiday for hollywood. movie ticket sales were down 45% from last year. "little fockers" took it with $34 million. in ticket same. a very tricky movie title. >> you handled it well. >> it was the third installment starring ben stiller and robert de niro. "true grit" second. and "tron: legacy" took third. and when we come back this morning, plenty of snow still coming down in the northeast. we'll have an update on that. plus, the death of a motown legend. details on the passing of teena arie coming up.

in the morning road conditions, icy on i-95 from raleigh to d.c. philadelphia and new york some stretches will be impassible as the snow continues to slam northern new england. wet on i-5 from seattle to portland. slick and icy on i-15 and i-90 in the northern rockies. >> and as you're flying today, expect airport delays in seattle, boston, philly, new york and washington, d.c. >> the blizzard could bring up to 2 feet in some places before it tapers often finally this afternoon. this is what it looks like at the george washington bridge, crossing from new jersey into new york. >> right now, the storm is moving away from the new york area toward massachusetts and maine. jeremy hubbard has a look at the conditions in boston. >> reporter: rob, mike, good morning from a very snowy boston. it's bad now and this isn't even

the worst of it. the snow's been falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches every hour in that in the overnight hours that is expected to double, 2 to 4 inches of snow falling here in boston overnight. it's going to be a mess. forecasters are calling this a blockbuster storm. road crews are trying to get a leg up but it's a futile exercise, overnight, the northeast is going to bear the brunt of storm. again, up to 20 inches here in boston and surrounding areas. the massachusetts governor has declared a state of emergency. that's an edict, stay off the roads at all costs, especially for the danger when whiteout conditions are expected to be the worst. roads are already jammed with holiday travelers trying to dodge the full assault of the storm. they are trying to get ahead of this. again, that's an exercise in futility. overnight the issue is going to

be power outages, officials are worried that with 30, 40, 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts that could cause massive power outages. a fleet of tugboats has finally freed a freight that has been stuck in new york. the ship went aground carrying 12,000 tons of coal. it was on its way from cleveland to a power plant. the coast guard is trying to find out what caused the vessel to run aground. in other news, eight americans have been killed on a bus crash in egypt. their bus was on its way to a major archeological site when it ran into a truck. it's common in egypt because of bad roads. the excellent injured nearly two dozen people including the driver and tour guide. nice suspects arrested in a series of raids across britain last week are now facing normal charges. the men are being charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion and using internet to scout

potential targets. the police have not revealed the specifics of the plot. a sad passing from the entertainment world, singer teena marie has died. marie who was dubbed "the ivory queen of soul." she belted out hits like "i need your loving" and classic with her mentor rick james. police in pasadena say their death appears to be from natural causes. teena marie was 54. the so-called octomom may soon have to find a new place to raise her 14 children. the man who sold her home to nadya suleman is expected to evict her. suleman moved in two years ago. snow has canceled the

eagles/vikings games but other games were played. >> here are the highlights. good morning. a lot on the line, week 16 of the nfl, we start, eli manning, the giants, taking on the packers. second quarter, new york down 14-7, manning to manningham. first thing, mario. nice catch, and he's free the rest of the way. 85-yard touchdown, that's the longest touchdown pass of eli's career but he would also throw four interceptions. packers take control the second half. 24-17, aaron rodgers he threw four touchdowns. donald lee. fourth quarter, same score, rodgers, wearing a new helmet to protect the melon. he has concussions. don coons, if packers win, they make the playoffs. the next opponent, c chicago, playing mark sanchez and the

jets. jets down 31-24. santonio holmes wide open, just like that, tied at 31-31. later in the third, how about jay cutler, big game for chicago. to johnny knox, 26 yards, cut letter with three touchdown passes on the day. 38-34. fourth quarter, can sanchez lead a comeback down four. looking for holmes but picked by chris harris. bears win but the jets still make the playoffs as the jaguars lost to the redskins on sunday. that's your espn newsupdates. for all the highlights check out the highlight express on espn news until 3:00 a.p.m. today. an indiana man is using the snow as a blank canvas. >> instead of the run-of-the-mill snowman or snow angel, he created a rattlesnake.

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and now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this monday. states of emergency have been declared from north carolina to maine, as a massive blizzard dumps record snow all up and down the east coast. >> storm has left many thousands of travelers stranded at airports, just as the holiday weekend wraps up.newark airport will not reopen until midmorning. it's not any better on the rails, amtrak has canceled service from new york to maine, and the long island railroad, the nation's largest commuter rail is shut down. "monday night football" will not be affected by the snow. of course, it's being played inside of a dome in atlanta. and far from all of this paralyzing snow, president obama is still enjoying his vacation with his family out in hawaii. he could hit the links today after attending the sunday services at the chapel of the marine corps base. >> nice timing for a have a kay.

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finally this morning, something not related to the snow at all. it's a touch of home for the troops with the holidays in the war zone. >> many men and women fighting

in afghanistan rely on e-mail and video conferencing to keep in touch. >> but good old-fashioned air packages are pouring in. >> reporter: ten christmases at war and still the mail pours in. >> we've got candies. >> reporter: little notes. >> a letter from my daughter. >> reporter: big gifts. >> court tv. >> reporter: tasting munchies. and silly things, too. >> ah! >> reporter: 4 million pounds of in kandahar alone. the infantry surge with the mail room. >> today, the more and more boxes there are. >> reporter: for a couple of days the army is focused on its own hearts and mind. just e-mail won't do. there's something special about mail you can touch and hold. but moving millions of pounds of mail in the middle of a war has its challenges. and there's only one piece of

equipment that can do the job. the venerable chinook. since 1956 in vietnam, it has been the army's christmas wagon. it carries all the christmas letters flying well above the ieds, the ambushes and fire. they skillfully slipped their lumbering craft into tight spots and tougher spots all the way to the seeming edge of the earth. >> i'm sure everybody will be happy. >> reporter: letters that are as important today as they were ten years ago. mike boettcher, abc news, kandahar. >> people in the northeast are battling mother nature this morning, so much snow and it continues to fall. >> and that is the big story of the day. really the big story in the northeast for the last 24 hours since all of this got started. it's a big mess out there. this is going to be a particularly messy monday for millions of folks trying to get to work. good luck, everybody. drive safely. that is what's