. . tonight on "nightline," evacuating egypt. christiane amanpour is on the scene in the middle of an uprising as americans flee and the atms run out of cash. we're in the streets as a revolution brews. plus, mother and killer. two teenage children, a son and a daughter, star athletes and star students allegedly executed by their own mother. how could it happen? we have the inside story. and the ice storm. with much of the country reeling from repeated weren't storms, a forecast to make hearts sink. could this be the worst one yet? blizzards, snow, ice and who knows what else coming to a town near you.

good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin in egypt where a turning point may occur in the next few hours this. is the eighth day since egyptians took to the street demanding president mubarak step down. protest organizers put out a call for a million-person rally in cairo's liberation square. abc's christiane amanpour, anchor of "this week," spent the entire day on the square assessing the simmering revolt. christiane? >> reporter: since yashgs the protesters have been out all night paying no attention whatsoever to the curfew as usual. they are very relieved obviously now that a big question has been answered, what if the army is given the order to fire? well, tonight the army seems to say it would never use force against the protesters.

in addition, the new vice president said the president hosni mubarak has ordered him to open immediate talks with the opposition. there was a big reaction to that also on the streets. we were with the protesters all day listening to their hopes, their dreams and their grievances. this is what greeted us this morning in cairo. a new display of force by the egyptian army on day seven of the unprecedented protests rocking egypt. [ chanting ] >> reporter: we made our way to tahrir square, or liberation square in english, perhaps a fitting name for the place that's been the site of this uprising as people demanded freedom. [ chanting ] >> reporter: as we approached the square we saw more tanks, more armored vehicle, more foot soldiers trying to slow the traffic of protesters who have been streaming in for the past

week. we even saw them installing concrete road blocks. excuse me. excuse me. excuse me. can i ask you something? but they weren't very happy to see us filming them. okay, okay, okay. soldiers and police tried to block us and the protesters from getting into the square and they threatened to take our cameras. we're not allowed to film on pain of having our film and cameras taken. we're not allowed to go into the square nor are the demonstrators. we spoke to an army captain who doesn't want to go on camera but told me his orders are to maintain discipline and seal the square but by midday the army seemed to have given up trying. the crowds were returning to tahrir square en masse and they were being let in. so why are you out on the street? life is good for you. you learn a living. you're from a good family. >> but we need more.

we need to feel free in our country. >> reporter: as we moved closer to the square we did find a checkpoint but this was set up by the protesters themselves. they say they're checking i.d. to make sure the only people there are ordinary citizen, not the police who they blame for the first days of vice. at one point we got caught up with the crowd surging forward towards the square. but past the bottleneck the shoving stopped and the protesters seemed to be in good spirits. >> welcome to cairo. welcome. >> reporter: and it was that optimistic spirit that you felt in the square today. flags waving. ♪ >> reporter: people singing. even a so-called freedom feast. this man told us that he brought his wife and young children with him to witness history. what do you think of all of this

noise? history may have been on his father's mind but the 6-year-old told me that all he really wanted was a hamburger. >> a hamburger. >> change. >> reporter: and they definitely wanted to be heard. every time we turned around there was someone trying to vent their frustration. >> mubarak, we want you to suffer a crushing defeat. we never want you. >> reporter: if that sounds like a primal scream that's because it is. these are people who haven't been able to speak their minds for 30 years. that's how long strong man hosni mubarak has been their president. for decades, his name was the only name on the ballot. mubarak swore in a new cabinet today and ordered his new vice president to start talking to the opposition. but each step he takes to placate the people just seems to further infuriate them.

they are impatient for him to leave, but the united states and its allies in the region want to see an orderly transition, unclear about what kind of leader would follow. the country's young people are credited with starting the fire, which was stoked through facebook postings. it's an elder statesman, though who has emerged as the movement's figurehead. mohamed elbaradei, the former chief of the iaea and a nobel peace prize winner. he's not quite ka miss matic enough and doesn't have enough of a base to be a grassroots favorite, but he's been embraced by the crowd and accepted as a negotiator by all of the various players. he's also secular which may help calm western fears that an overthrow of the regime here could lead to an islamic state. but even as they kneel for

evening prayers, the people tell us over and over again this is not about religion. >> i don't need the government. i don't need a revolution, horrible for terrorists. >> reporter: the topic is such a hot button that i could hardly ask the question of this man -- are you looking for an islamic revolution? before another man angrily jumped in. >> no, listen -- >> reporter: i'm not. >> this is not an islamic -- >> reporter: okay, let me ask him. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> reporter: okay. tell me why -- why are you so angry? >> because you tried -- you know what, the american media try to say this is going to happen, what happened to iran before. no, this is absolutely different. >> reporter: what's really different is the sense that something new is taking hold in

the arab world. a desire for democracy and the courage to pursue it. >> i was one of the sleeping majority. now i wake up. >> reporter: so they'll push on, they say, as darkness fell, the protesters were camped out planning to spend another night here in liberation square. the heart of a movement which they hope will only be stronger. the protest leaders are calling for tuesday to be a huge demonstration of force. they're calling for a million people to come out into the streets of cairo and elsewhere around egypt. the egyptian government doesn't want any of that and they say that they're stopping trains from coming into this capital. cynth cynthia. >> thank you. now, the government is also expected to shut down cell phone service as well as halt those trains. for more on the story turn to "good morning america," "world news with diane sawyer" and "nightline" tomorrow night for our continuing coverage. when we come back, a search

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we turn now to crime. unfortunately, there is precedents and yet the news of a mother accused of killing her own children is still shock. jul julie schenecker had two children, beth star athletes and

two days ago things went horribly wrong. here's yunji de nies with the report replacement they were the picture-perfect family. smiling and suntanned on vacation. a career military man, his smiling homemaker, smart and athletic kids living in this upscale gated community. but all of that came to a sudden crash. >> this mother told police she wanted to kill her kids. >> killed her teenage daughter and son. >> julie schenecker is here in jail. >> reporter: on thursday on the way to soccer practice, julie schenecker thought her 13-year-old son beau twice in the head then drove home and shot her 16-year-old daughter calyx in the face as she was doing her homework. the reason, she told them the kids were mouthy and rude. police arrived at the family's $500,000 home after schenecker's own mother called them worried about an e-mail from her daughter. >> she made comment in her

e-mail to her mother that she was tired of her kids talking back. she was tired of their disrespecting her and that she was going to deal with it and that it was all going to be over soon. >> reporter: tampa police spokesman laura mcelroy said a full night had passed since they were killed and police found her alone on the back porch. >> she was in a robe and there was blood on it. the 16-year-old was shot in the head in one of the bedrooms then a very short time later they found the 13-year-old son. he also was shot in the head in the front seat of the family suv that was parked inside the garage. >> now, julie schenecker to the podium, please. >> reporter: with little emotion schenecker detailed the crime saying that she shot the teenagers with a 38 caliber pistol she purchased a week earlier. police believe she had been planning to kill them for some time. >> then we found handwritten notes inside the house.

>> reporter: tell me a little bit if you could about the language of the notes. >> it's hard to believe the mother offered the notes because it's a very methodical nonemotional description of the murder of two innocent children, of her own children. >> reporter: by all accounts those children were star athletes and star students. this is calyx giving a presentation last year to her science class. >> we don't care for it. >> reporter: tributes to the sister and brother have sprung up on facebook and youtube, a makeshift memorial stands outside the gates where beau waited for the bus every morning. today his friends wore blue, his favorite color. at school, principals and teachers helped their classmates cope while struggling themselves. >> i need to make an announcement about the tragic loss of calyx schenecker at the end of last week. >> these kids were special children. they really were. i just wanted people to know

that these were incredible kids and the dad was a good -- is a good dad, was a good dad. >> reporter: colonel parker schenecker is an army intelligence officer stationed in tampa on assignment in the middle east at the time of the murders. schenecker is now back in tampa and released a statement saying he is devoted first and are foremost to honoring the lives and memory of his beautiful children, calyx and beau." police say they do not expect him to support his wife. so how could a mother murder her own children and were there warning signs? over the weekend julie schenecker was taken to a hospital for an undisclosed medical condition. these jarring images show a woman shaken to the core. >> i see a woman in shock that uncontrollable shaking is one of the symptoms of shock. >> reporter: former fbi agent brad garrett says violent crimes like this are rarely committed by women. >> in situations where women

kill their children, in about 80% of the time, it's driven by some mental illness issue and what happens is that women become so depressed they believe they can't go on in life and in some situations they believe that it's better that the children not go on without them there so they kill the children and kill themselves. >> reporter: there were clues of trouble at home noted in this police report. just two months ago police responded to the schenecker home in reference to physical abuse to a 16-year-old female where the mother is the suspect. the report continued that calyx had told a school counselor her mom had hit her in the face and schenecker had backhanded her daughter in the face three times. but investigators closed the case after concluding that the 16-year-old had no signs of physical abuse. we also spoke to this woman who met beau, calyx and mr. schenecker at an al-anon family for families coping with

drug and alcohol abuse and asked us not to use her face or name. >> i think it was kind of hidden and they played it well. >> reporter: in that meeting she says calyx spoke first. >> she started crying, as soon as she tried to speak she started bawling there were no other words but my mom. >> reporter: she said mr. schenecker then took over. >> as he was speaking he didn't cry. he didn't sound depressed. he just sounded like he was there to tell a story. >> reporter: and what was that story? >> that his wife had a drug and alcohol problem and that they were there to talk about it and cope with it. >> reporter: that cry for help came just a few weeks ago. there is little to take comfort in this horrific case but perhaps one small solace is beau and calyx probably had no idea what their mother was planning. >> from what we understand of what occurred, we don't think the children ever saw it coming. she came up from behind and shot

her daughter in the hid as she was on the computer. she did fire a warning shot with her son but then very quickly turned the gun toward him. >> reporter: tonight this mom now a suspected murderer waits for justice and this community still waits for answers. i'm yunji de nies for "nightline" in tampa. >> so much more to learn about what happened and why. up next, we turn our attention to big news on the weather front. a massive maybe historic storm about to sweep the country. and this is everything people love about it. they're big fans of the 4g speed. and the powerful android platform. ♪ so we took both... ♪ ...and used them to make something new. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com. introducing the new htc evo shift 4g.

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and now the weather. it's the seventh major storm of the season although it may be hard to see how that number could possibly matter since snow from each storm seems to just pile on top of what's already there. what does seem to matter is that against all odds and over all objections forecasters are saying that this could be the biggest one yet. here's chris bury. >> reporter: here in chicago they are moving mountains to get ready, mountains of salt to be spread by an army of trucks nearly 400 strong preparing to do battle with a monster storm, the biggest so far this winter. by tomorrow evening it will unload a nasty dangerous combination of snow, ice and wind over much of the country. >> everybody is going to get something out of this storm or you're going to have heavy snow coming up out of the southern plains right on across the midwest and south of that it is a terrible ice storm and deep south could be looking at tornadoes, hail, damaging winds.

>> reporter: blizzard warnings are going up in seven states. the head of fema is treating the storm as if it were an approaching hurricane. >> it's not something sneaking up on us. it's been well forecasted. we know it's going to be bad. >> reporter: here in chicago meteorologist mike kaplan expects up to 3 inches of wet, heavy snow per hour by tomorrow night. >> generally 1 to 2 feet will be a good rule of thumb. some of the computer models are printing out even more than 2 feet of snow. this will rank in one of the top 5 storms in chicago. >> one for the ages? >> absolutely. >> reporter: that would rival chicago's crippling storms of 1999 when nearly 19 inches fell and 1967, 23 inches that paralyzed everything. this time chicago's mayor is taking it all in stride. >> we always have snow. we always have snow. i mean it's -- it doesn't matter, you know. we know that snow is coming and

you get set. >> reporter: but he's leaving office soon. other city officials seem far more worried. >> we don't want to scare anybody but we want people to be prepared. >> 3 inches an hour is quite a bit and it's a challenge but we're out with -- the plan is ready. the plan is in place. >> reporter: tonight there is a run on groceries in the chicago area. at hardware stores shovels and snow blowers were selling out as chicagoans prepared to dig in. >> anybody need help? >> no, that's it. >> just, get me through the day tomorrow. and the next day. >> my mom told me to go and get groceries so hopefully i'll do that tonight and stay warm like bundle up. >> reporter: in oklahoma where as the song says the winds come sweeping down the plain, forecaster damon lane is expecting fierce gusts whipping the snow into dangerous drifts. >> wind speeds are going to be a huge issue with this storm because we can see the gusts up around 50 miles per hour so you

pick up 1 to 2 feet of snow. that's a lot of snow right there. but then you throw in the winds that gives you snow drifts three to five feet. this may go down as our winter storm of the century. >> reporter: the other big worry is ice. a big belt of it. heavy enough to snap power lines, it could reach from oklahoma across missouri, illinois, indiana, ohio and pennsylvania. the cincinnati area is bracing for a disruptive ice storm. not out of the question we could see a half an inch of ice f we get that there will be real problems talking about major power outages, talking about driving difficulty, shutting down roads. >> reporter: from the midwest monster is moving northeast. tonight in hoboken, new jersey, owners of cars snowed in during last week's storm were told to get them out by morning. half a dozen major storms have left new england reeling and abc's sam champion has covered them all. is this an unusual pattern? >> yeah, very unusual.

not unusual in the fact that it's winter and there's snow but there have been so many back-to-back storms really when you've been looking at them coming, loading up and coming every week and kind of exploding in their strength across the northeast. >> reporter: for much of the winter weary country, here it comes and this could be the biggest and baddest of them all. i'm chris bury for "nightline" in chicago. >> thanks, chris, i think. for those counting, 48, that's the number of days till spring. when we come back, the health care law takes a hit. that's the subject of tonight's "closing argument." first jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next. >> thanks, cynthia. on the show julianna margulies, matt bomer and i will wave my