making news in america this morning -- wicked weather. drivers stranded. thousands without power. and this is just the beginning. live team coverage as a new snowstorm slams the northeast. blockbuster buy. breaking news. two of the largest cable companies in the country strike a deal. the criticism coming swift overnight. close call. new video of a 10-year-old driving a car into the dmv, showing just how bad the accident could have been. pricey plunge. a sinkhole opens up swallowing some classic corvettes. and it might not be done yet. good morning. i'm marci gonzalez in for diana perez. >> and i'm john muller.

the latest deadly winter storm is on the move right now. let's take a look at the radar. this system is huge. stretching from the deep south there up the atlantic, mid-atlantic states into new england. >> millions of people are affected. schools closed. flights delayed. for many, it is truly the winter of our discontent. >> all right. we have live team coverage right now. accuweather's mark mancuso is standing by with the storm's track. >> but we begin with tahman bradley, live, in a very snowy washington, d.c. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: marci and john, good morning. the storm arrived here in the northeast overnight. in washington, d.c., we've been getting about and inch or two every single hour of snow. this is a part of the country used to these conditions. a lot of people today will stay home. this morning, a mammoth winter storm is ravaging the east coast. 100 million americans are waking up to snow, ice, and freezing rain. the storm downed trees and knocked out power to hundreds of

thousands. in virginia, the national guard is on standby. salt trucks and plows are out in heavy force. >> we can handle it. i mean, snow is always a problem. but that's what we're here for. >> reporter: the storm socked the south. leaving behind dangerous ice. look at this traffic mess in raleigh, north carolina. car after car abandoned on the highway. >> avoid i-85 at all times because it is not looking good right now. >> reporter: people ran for cover after one trapped car caught fire. the north carolina governor warned residents to stay off the roads. >> don't put your stupid hat on at this point in time. protect yourself, your family, protect your neighbors. let's protect each other. >> reporter: this woman's daughter was nearly crushed when a pine tree fell on her home. >> hearing the tree crack and watching it fall from my window and landing on my daughter's room was very traumatic. >> reporter: and the roof of this north carolina church collapsed. more than 4,000 flights have already been canceled today, impacting about 5 million passengers nationwide. many people have had enough of this brutal winter. >> i'm played out with this

snow. it makes my job twice as hard. >> reporter: the federal government is closed today as well as schools and businesses up and down the east coast. john and marci? >> all right, tahman bradley, live in washington, thank you. just down the street from where tahman is. another look at washington. the white house. one of the few federal offices that will be open today in washington. kind of looks like a snow globe or a christmas card. >> kind of does, doesn't it? let's find out where else the snow is falling. >> accuweather meteorologist mark mancuso joins us live. man, oh, man, it's coming down. >> it's pouring snow across the i-95 corridor here. new york city, southward to philly, around the baltimore, washington, area. already reports about 10 inches of snow around towson in maryland. so it's really coming down. we're going from shivering to shoveling in the northeast. the snow worked its way up into southern new england. it's snowing in providence. that snow will arrive in boston for the morning commute. along the coast, we are seeing a

changeover to rain here. the frozen precipitation working westward. richmond, after about 3 or 4 inches of snow, some freezing rain. we're starting to see a mix now toward the nation's capital. that will hold down snowfall amounts in these areas. north and west, more snow. a good 8 to 14 inches, some places even a bit more. now near the coast, they'll start off as snow, 3 to 6 inches in boston expected, down toward new york city and philly, half a foot. and then around baltimore and washington, 6 to 10. but more to the north and west. and getting very windy here, too. a lot of problems today. good luck getting into work this morning in the northeast. >> all right, accuweather's mark mancuso. thank you for that. stay with abc news. we have crews throughout the storm zone this morning. live coverage coming up on "good morning america." breaking overnight in northern oregon, a landslide has shut down the eastbound lanes on i-84 and one westbound lane. the slide near the city of hood

river was so heavy, mud and rocks pushed the center barrier off its foundation and on to the roadway. one car smashed into a huge boulder. but the driver was not hurt. before that snow started to fall in washington, the senate held a dramatic final vote to raise the nation's debt ceiling. the drama from texas. senator and tea party favorite ted cruz tried to stop the bill with a filibuster. his fellow republicans joined democrats in approving the debt increase which will allow the government to borrow money. cruz complained that the senate gave president obama a blank check. now to the olympics. the winter games being contested in decidedly nonwinter-like conditions. >> take a look. that's sochi. the flame burns. the temperatures rising into the 60s once again today. americans putting in good performances already today. abc's kirit radia has our update. >> reporter: u.s. women's snowboarders dominated the halfpipe on wednesday. in her olympics debut, kaitlyn farrington flipped, twisted, and turned her way to gold.

teammate kelly clark, who won the event in salt lake city in 2002 got bronze. those were the only medals of the day for team usa. in the men's 1,000 meter speed skating, shani davis fell short of his dream to become the first american male to win gold in three consecutive olympics. he finished in eighth place. he tweeted, tough one, just didn't have it today. >> shani davis has dominated the 1,000 meters. this is a big disappointment. >> reporter: and there was disappointment in alpine skiing, too. julia mancuso finished eight in the downhill. in women's hockey, rivals u.s. and canada faced off with the canadians winning, 3-2. both teams now expecting to see each other again in the gold medal game. all of russia is celebrating its return to dominance in pairs figure skating. russian teams took gold and silver in the event. this morning, american freestyle

skiers swept the event. american men finishing one, two, three, including nick goepper with the bronze. erin hamlin is hoping to do well in the luge again today. in speed skating, heather richardson is america's best hope. and the u.s. men's hockey team, full of nhl stars, opens its campaign against slovakia. kirit radia, abc news, moscow. >> all right, our thanks to kirit for that. let's look at the latest medals count. the top five positions with the same nations as yesterday, including the united states. there it is. and we mentioned the warm weather. here's what it looked like along sochi's black sea yesterday. >> some taking a dip in the 55-degree water. one of those brave enough to head in was abc's own matt gutman. he said it left him gasping for breath. a little too chilly for swimming. >> 55 in the water is different than 55 out of the water. good for him. calling it quits. a baseball superstar is hanging up his cleats. not just yet. and classic car casualty.

a sinkhole swallows several vintage vehicles. it's all caught on tape. and the massive winter storm barreling up the east coast. the latest in a live report.

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♪ you're the one who saw me through... ♪ and thanks - for everything. - ♪ through it all... - ♪ you were my strength when i was weak... ♪ - ( woman speaks ) a message from the foundation for a better life. welcome back. breaking business news overnight. a blockbuster deal impacting millions of cable tv customers. this morning, comcast is set to announce it's buying time warner cable. the $45 billion deal would combine the country's two largest cable companies and have 30 million subscribers. critics say the deal could raise prices for consumers due to lack of competition.

the merger would require government approval. seasonal retail staff who have been trimmed out of a job now that the holidays are over may want to make a beeline to home depot. with spinning approaching, if nation's largest home improvement store is hiring more than 80,000 employees as the weather warms and the economy improves. dr pepper testing canada dry and 7-up. containing only natural sweeteners, sugar, and stevia, rather than the high-fructose corn syrup. the natural soda would have 60 calories a can. and that is more than zero. but it's a lot different than the diet version. it will have half the calories of the regular version. help is on the way for all of you flappy bird addicts who are jonesing for a fix after the hugely popular game was removed from app stores earlier this week. >> "sesame street" is now offering its own take on the now defunct game called flappy bert.

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it is snowing here in new york. the beginning of precipitation that is expected to last all day. the winter storm is blanketing a wide swath of the east from the deep south up to northern new england. >> that means slippery road conditions throughout the south and east. there will also be light snow on interstate 94 west of lake michigan. wet roads in the pacific northwest, particularly on i-90

and i-5. now, if you're flying, airport delays are possible in atlanta, charlotte, washington, philadelphia, new york, and boston. millions of travellers have been affected by this week's storm. many of them at atlanta's airport. >> devin dwyer is there. he continues our coverage. good morning, devin. >> reporter: hey, good morning, john and marci. no matter where you live in the country today, if you're flying, it's going to be a mess. here at the world's busiest airport in atlanta, hundreds of flights are listed but almost all of them are canceled. at this hour, more than 4300 flight cancellations. nationwide. many of those scrapped preemptively since yesterday. the worst airports atlanta, philly, charlotte, d.c. all the way up into new york. the hardest hit airline is delta. they're based in atlanta. more than 600 cancellations today. the good news, passengers had enough advance warning that many simply decided to stay home. here at the atlanta airport, only about 175 people spent the

night on couches, sleeping on floors here that we've seen. the bad news, guys, this is a very busy holiday weekend. airlines tell us the flights that manage to get out are likely to be packed. john and marci? >> devin, thank you. jurors will resume deliberations in the murder case which started as an argument over loud music. lawyers for michael dunn say he acted in self-defense when he shot ten times at a car full of teenagers in jacksonville. 17-year-old jordan davis was killed. prosecutors point out that no weapon was found in the teens' car and dunn failed to call police after he shot. three current and former virginia tech students have been charged in the murder of virginia tech senior samantha shresha. published reports say the 21-year-old biology major was found in the trunk of her own car. the relationship between the suspects and the victim and a motive still under investigation.

samantha's death is particularly tragic for her parents, who lost their older daughter five years ago in a motorcycle accident. new video showing the moment a 10-year-old girl drove into the front of a denver dmv office. watch this. the vehicle plows into the office. the suv narrowly missed a person that just walked into the office. the mother left the keys in the car while she went inside. the girl was charged with reckless driving. just two days after the death of actress shirley temple comes word of the death of another hollywood luminary. >> considered the godfather of modern comedy, sid caesar died at the age of 91. he blazed a trail for comedians and writers. >> a list of his writers, giants in their own right, including mel brooks, woody allen, and neil simon. both of new york's famous tabloids, "the post" and "the

daily news" have derek jeter on both the front and back covers this morning. >> that follows the yankee captain's announcement that he'll retire after the upcoming season. his 19th season in pinstripes. on his facebook page, he wrote, he has no regrets and it's time for a new chapter. well, the east coast storm we've been talking about forced last night's duke-north carolina basketball game to be postponed. >> but there was plenty of exciting hoops action elsewhere. highlights of the other action from our guys at espn. good morning, america. this is the los angeles "sportscenter" set, which will be going out of business for awhile, which is unfortunate. he's stan. i'm neil. >> we're still going to be working. just from a different location. lebron james, he was working in oakland on wednesday night. heat there to take on the warriors. under 20 seconds to go, warriors down one, steph curry. wow. 29 points. put him on the line as well. that gave the warriors a two-point lead. looked like it might be over. final seconds, lebron james, andre iguodala. good defense, but just a great

shop. james almost got a triple double. 36 points, 13 rebounds, 9 -- the heat win it, 111-110. >> i'm not sure we need all that at the end. >> i don't know what that was. >> the rushmore guys didn't do that. syracuse trying to stay unbeaten. they're at pittsburgh, though. jim boeheim 1-6 on this court. pittsburgh. 9-0 against top five teams all-time on this court. late foul called. tyler zanna makes both free throws. 4.4 seconds left. syracuse didn't have a time-out. pittsburgh had one to set up its "d." tyler ennis made them pay. boom! the freshman, from o, canada, with the game-winner. syracuse, 24-0. >> wow, what a game. both of them. >> unreal games. >> unfortunately, that's all we have. to show you right now. >> yeah, bye. >> back to you. >> thanks, guys. up next, "the pulse." some classic cars get swallowed up by a sink hole.

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music playing. refrigerator door opens. music playing. music still playing, door opens and then closes. chobani. how matters. ♪ oh, yeah, little red corvette ♪ ♪ baby you're much too fast time to check "the pulse," starting with a crushing sight for car enthusiasts everywhere. >> unbelievable. eight classic corvettes swallowed up by a giant sinkhole? kentucky. the security cameras caught the scene early monday in bowling green, kentucky. this sink hole, 40 feet across

and 30 feet deep swallowing eight classic corvettes. among the casualties, a '62 corvette, the 1 millionth and the 1 1/2 millionth corvette to roll off the assembly line. >> the historic cig knife skans not something you can replace. >> reporter: it will be days before they can put a price tag on the damage. and engineers are trying to figure out how chail get the cars out of the hole. sinkholes are not uncommon in that part of the country. the museum has insurance coverage. >> some things can't be replace fpd 1962 corvette was donated by a guy just before he died. he wouldn't drive it in the rain. now look at it. a major investment firm is betting that paula deen is ready for a comeback. backers are putting up close to

$100 million to help her get back in the public eye. >> the southern chef caused outrage when she admitted she used a racial slur. anyone who has lived with a roommate nose it's not easy adjusting to each other's habits. >> a worm in jennerny says her roommate, a horse, is no problem at all. she brought the horse indoors during a ferocious storm. no sign he'll move back to the barn any time soon. >> horses are smart. >> the horse plays the keyboard. >> my one big question, of course. where does the -- uh -- the horse take care of himself? is he house broken? >> i would think like you walk a dog, you would walk a horse. >> the horses in a parade just let it fly.

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the apartment building where the fire was. when things like this happen, i think you find a new perspective on life. hi. red cross put us in a hotel so we were able to stay together. we're strong and, if we overcame that or if we can overcome that, we can overcome anything, so. [ sniffle ]

abc7 news begins with breaking news. good morning, everyone, i am katie marzullo. >> i am kristen sze. >> two are injured after a fire in a high-rise used by many san francisco state university students. amy hollyfield is at the apartments. hundreds had to be evacuated? >> yes a high-rise building and firefighters had to get people out as a precaution concerned about the smoke. they got the call at 12:22. the partnered building near san francisco state university has several students who live here. firefighters took it to a second-alarm because it is so large and so many people live here. >> we had residents see the flames from the 6th floor.

we dispatched more units. we attackedded fire right away aggressively. one unit is where it was contained. >> a couple people were hurt and taken to the hospital that firefighters have made said their condition or the cause of the fire. they let the residents go back inside after it got calmed down. firefighters have left the seen. >> now to the roof. mike nicco? good morning, everyone. a mild start to the day. a lost upper 40's to low 50's. the fog is a problem for a few of us but not hitting many reporting stations. six in oakland and eight at sfo, and six at half moon bay with patchy fog and low clouds

hangover san francisco. the first forecast shows sprinkles possible across the north bay. mostly clouds. less sunshine than yesterday. temperatures are the same: low-to-upper 60's inland. near 60 at the coast. now the thursday commute. >> good morning, everyone, at 4:30. thursday morning commute is looking quiet. we do not have accidents to report. as we look at drive time traffic it appears everything is moving. on 580 westbound from tracy to dublin and highway 4 antioch to concord is 15 minutes. 101 through marin county from san rafael to san francisco is 16 minutes. we will see how the bay bridge toll plaza is doing where traffic is settling in. we do not see too many cars just a couple here and there from the maze to san francisco. oakland police investigators are questioning a "person of