making news in america this morning -- paralyzing storm. the east coast socked with more winter weather. a tricky system that keeps changing its track. and snow totals. and historic night in hollywood. with academy awards filled with glitz, glamour, and powerful performances. ♪ let it go let it go can't hold me back anymore ♪ but it is a pizza delivery and a record-breaking selfie that are becoming the most talked about moments of the show. good morning, everybody. i'm john muller. >> and i'm marci gonzalez in for diana perez. we begin in hollywood, where the

oscar afterparties, only some of them might be winding down right about now. >> maybe you're right. among those celebrating, steve mcqueen, who becomes the first african-american director to win for best picture. abc's akiko fujita stayed up all night. she joins us with the highlights. >> reporter: good morning to you. you hear crews breaking down the red carpet. just hours after the show. away from the dolby theater, partying all fight for the stars. a lot of celebrating out here. the big winner? "12 years a slave." >> "12 years a slave." >> reporter: top honors for the slavery odyssey based on an 1853 memoir. brad pitt's production company produced it. >> thank you all. thank you for this incredible honor you bestowed on our film tonight. >> reporter: the film received a best supporting actress nod for lupita nyong'o.

>> it has been the joy of my life. [ applause ] >> reporter: "dallas buyers club" a drama about battling aids in 1980s texas cleaned up. jared leto thanked his mother and made a special dedication. >> this is for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to aids. >> reporter: the movie's other star, matthew mcconaughey took home the best actor trophy. the competition for best actress was tough this year. >> cate blanchett. [ applause ] >> reporter: "gravity" triumphed as the night's top award winner, cleaning up in the technical categories and for best director. >> i want everybody to get up. come on. >> reporter: and the oscar stage turned into a concert with music's biggest stars performing the four best original song nominations. the pressure was on ellen degeneres. who returned as host for a second time. she handed out pizza to the audience. ellen degeneress' goal of

setting a retweet record with her star-studded selfie was achieved before the oscars telecast was even over. ellen getting a lot of praise for her second stint as oscar host this morning. about that selfie, it got more than 1 million retweets. that's 300,000 more than the previous record set by president obama. john and marci? >> thank you, akiko fujita in hollywood for us. and stay with abc news for your oscar coverage. coming up later on "america this morning" rotten tomatoes senior editor gray drake will join us with her thoughts on the big night. another winter storm headed for the mid-atlantic states. >> take a look at the radar. a mixed bag. it's centered right about where tahman bradley is standing in washington, d.c., good morning, tahman. >> reporter: here we go again. more winter misery. a massive storm marched into the mid-atlantic overnight, threatening 100 million americans.

forecast, 6 to 10 inches of snow. >> it's going to be another rough one. i'm looking for that punxsutawney phil. >> reporter: the compauntry's midsection already got pounded. >> so much snow. i haven't seen the grass in like a month. then it rained last week. and i saw the glass. now it's snow again. >> reporter: in oklahoma, lightning and giant hail. the storm is causing a travel nightmare. at the nation's airports, crews are working to deice planes. on highways, plows are trying to clear roads. but it's just not safe to drive. >> all the cars started to go like we had black ice or something. before you know it, everyone is crashing into each other. >> reporter: the icy conditions caused this 40-car pileup in oklahoma city. >> this car over here was sliding. they asked if i could reverse. i couldn't even reverse. if i did, i hit this car in front of me. >> i threw it in four-wheel

drive. even with that i was spinning. >> reporter: cities along the storm's path spent the weekend preparing. 20,000 tons of salt arrived in the port of baltimore. while the power company warned customers to brace for problems. >> ice is the most detrimental. we have an increased number of crews stationed throughout the entire service territory. >> reporter: new jersey is not taking chances. a state of emergency was declared there. in washington, d.c., the city is basically shut down. federal government closed today as well as schools and businesses. even congress canceled votes. marci and john? >> rough stuff. tahman bradley, live in washington, thank you. >> okay. there is snow today on the west coast, we want to get a detailed look at the forecast from accuweather's justin povick. >> thank you, john and marci. well, a bitter cold and brutal start to our workweek here around most of the country. major cold continues for the northeast and the great lakes, ohio valley. south of the bitter cold, we

have snow rolling through d.c. and baltimore. that wraps up around midday. the west coast, joining in unfortunately on the sloppy weather as well around seattle and portland. john and marci, back over to you. >> all right, justin, thank you. concerns growing this morning over russia's invasion of the ukraine. russian troops in unmarked uniforms continue to pour into the crimea area. boycotts have been threatened. the white house has ruled out military action. secretary of state john kerry is traveling to ukraine tomorrow. tensions also rising on the korean peninsula. for the second time in days, north korea has fired off missiles as the u.s. and south korea conduct military exercises in the region. the two missiles, launched separately, traveled for about 200 miles before landing in the sea. north korea has condemned the joint military maneuvers by the u.s. and south korea. all right with the crisis in

ukraine and north korea, president obama spends time on the mideast today. he meets with benjamin netanyahu at the white house. mr. obama says it's time for israel to make peace with the palestinians. or there could be fallout. netanyahu says he won't give in to pressure. at the white house, police arrested nearly 400 demonstrators, mostly college students, two strapped themselves to a fence in a show of civil disobedience. they want the president to reject the keystone pipeline. the right time to buy. the exact day you need to book an airline ticket to get the best deal. new this morning. a popular method to help infants sleep is being questioned. why it could be damaging a baby's hearing. and surprises at the oscars and moments that went viral overnight. our coverage of the academy awards continues.

welcome back. the crisis in ukraine is having an effect on the financial markets. investors are looking for safe havens and pulling back. overseas markets are mostly down this morning. so are u.s. stock futures. oil prices are likely to rise on worries the crisis would disrupt russian oil coming to market. today is the best day to book your flights for april 26th. cheapair.com crunches the numbers and finds out that you'll get the best deal if you make your reservations 54 days in advance or 7 1/2 weeks. the absolute worst time is the day before. a new action thriller blocked "the lego movie" this weekend.

"non-stop" sold $30 million of tickets. it stars liam neeson as an air marshall on a flight. "son of god" arrived in second with $26.5 million and the leg ghost clicked into third with $21 million. not only diz did disney's "frozen" win two oscars last night, it's now in the 18 club. it's the 18th film to make more than $1 billion in theaters. it's the seventh disney movie of those 18. disney is the parent company of abc. nasa out with pictures they could have taken straight from the oscar-winner "gravity." >> the pictures show astronauts working on the international space station. and earth as it's seen from above in space. some date from all the way back in 1999. really cool shots. >> they talked to the guys on the international space station. they say they were impressed by the scenes in "gravity." >> i know. incredible. saying they liked the

imagery, when they have views like this in real life. >> it must be good. >> yeah. all right. >> obviously. when we come back, a peer kl on in the green. a professional golfer sinks an incredible putt to win a tournament. it's a must-see, even if you're not a golf fan. more on the big winners at the oscars. the fashion. how did ellen do as a host? and who is that pizza deliveryman? i had ongoing pain. an intense ache all over. it was hard to do what mattered. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia... thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain. for some, as early as the first week of treatment. now, i can do more with the ones i love. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters,

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tammy, please remind me to make snickers in a bite size. [ interference ] you know my memory tammy. [ interference ] make sure they have peanuts... there's a lot of interference, sir. it's maybe the soviets. ...bite size. [ male announcer ] your favorite bars: bite-sized. introducing snickers bites. all right. take a live look outside. it's snowing lightly here now in new york city. but the city is no longer expected to get anywhere near the heavy snowfall that's been forecasted. the big accumulations will be a little further south. centered on washington, d.c., but as far north at trenton, new jersey. >> road conditions not good in the mid-atlantic states today. as far west as west virginia. south of washington, roads will be wet as in portland, oregon. watch for snow-covered roads in the new york area.

if you're flying, airport delays possible in philadelphia, washington, and later today in san francisco. recapping the top story, hollywood honors its own. at the oscars. >> the heavy favorite, "12 years a slave" took home the best picture award. ellen received lots of praise. gray drake, senior editor at rottentomatoes.com joins us. a night of eloquent speeches. >> it was so good to see matthew mcconaughey win best actor. though not unique, because he's won nearly everything that he's been nominated for this season. he's gotten a lot of practice making great acceptance speeches. i think he knows what we all want to hear. just him going all right, all right, all right. >> all right, all right, all right. >> he did not disappoint. >> cate blanchett, a big winner. i thought her speech was great. >> it was lovely. she touched on something interesting. she was saying that she won an

on women and yes, people want to pay to see women in a movie. featured in a movie. that is something that hollywood as always been kind of iffy on. really featuring women in solid roles, where they're not sexualized. where it's a serious, important role. so nice to see her win for something like that. >> because she was excellent in "blue jasmine." what a performance. >> and you know what? it goes so far beyond just the fun parts of that character, with the armpit stains and the pill-popping. she was that character. it's a movie you could watch again and again. >> ellen, second time hosting. what did you think? >> i think she did so much better this year than in 2007. it seems like her writers were dead on their game and she stuck to where she is strong. which is working among the people. right? like getting in that audience and just doing fun stuff. having a pizza delivery guy show up. >> awesome. taking the selfie.

the whole thing. >> and really just connecting with both that audience in the dolby theater, as well as the people at home, which is something i think she might have missed out on last time. >> she took a lot of risks. >> they did. >> they sure did. >> and taking a fancy night and making it feel comfortable. >> even people in gowns probably felt like they were in sweat pants. they were so comfortable. >> it really was. >> rotten tomatoes senior editor gray drake, thank you for joining us. our oscar coverage does not end here. coming up in "the pulse, the record breaking wins, the fashions. and more. the murder trial of oscar pistorius. >> he's accused of the premeditated murder of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. defense attorneys will say he was acting in self-defense when he fired four shots through the

bathroom door last valentine's day. our parent company disney is cutting funding to the boy scouts next year because the organization bans gay adult troop leaders. the boy scouts lifted a ban on gay youth last year. but the prohibition against gay adult leaders remains. the popular machines used to help infants fall asleep may be damaging their hearing. the maximum noise level from three of the machines exceeded the work place safety level for adults. experts recommend moving those machines further away from the child's crib. some models are designed to be attached to the crib itself. and tiger woods is in a race against time, trying to recover from a lower back injury that forced him to quit a tournament in florida. >> he says he'll be getting treatment daily and hopes to play next weekend. he was well out of contention yesterday when he walked off. the best golf shot of the season so far happens to be our "play of the day." this happened yesterday at a women's tournament in singapore.

>> it was where paula creamer hit a 75-foot putt on the second playoff hole. it was good enough to win her the whole thing. she could have two-putted and went to another playoff hole. you can see, she didn't need to. >> that's a great putt. >> that is really impressive. >> that is a really great putt. wow. up next, "the pulse." all about the oscars. some of the fashions. the most talked about looks of the night. and what did the delivery guy have to say? when the cameras caught up with him back at the pizza shop.

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♪ i should probably warn you i'll be just fine ♪ >> that was a great moment, wasn't it? >> i love that. it is time to check "the pulse." best picture went to "12 years a slave." the first win for an african-american director. and "frozen" won for best animated feature and best song. to surprises for the top acting categories. best actor honors went to matthew mcconaughey for "dallas buyers club" and cate blanchett won for "blue jasmine." >> they all gave great speeches. we kept an eye on fashion winners as well. >> jennifer lawrence looked great in an orange dior. kerry washington in a loose-fitting jason wu dress.

>> and lupita nyong'o won with this ice blue prada number. she looked stunning. >> she was awesome. elegant in every way. best supporting actor jared leto. >> and fashion headliner pharrell did not disappoint. showing up in shorts. and i think the big hat made the appearance later. >> let's talk about ellen degeneres. she's getting positive reviews. >> memorable moments. among them, organizing this selfie featuring bradley cooper, jennifer lawrence, meryl streep, brad pitt. it set a new record for being retweeted. it's up to 2.3 million retweets. breaking a record there. >> and grumpy cat snuck in there, too. didn't take long for memos

to flood on to twitter. >> a minion from "despicable me" got in on the action. and this one featuring the invasion of nicolas cage. i don't know what to say about this one. >> the other top moment for degeneres, when she had the pizza ordered for the audience. the delivery guy and the pies had to be picked up and taken to the theater. >> degeneres met him backstage, asked if the pizzas were hot. she was assured they were, and she let him out. the guy didn't say much when tmz caught up with him. >> who covers the bill for that? any suggestions? >> i don't even -- >> jennifer, come in, also. brad, get in here. >> the hollywood heavy weight scraped together about 300 bucks for the tip. >> he looked like the real deal.

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abc7 news begins with breaking news. >> good morning, i am eric thomas. >> i am kristen sze. in fremont, a main street parkway is closed because of a head-on collision this morning. one car contained a mother and her young child. abc7 news reporter matt keller is live with that story. >> traffic investigators are on the scene four hours after the violent crash. a woman from fremont and her four-year-old daughter were headed southbound when it veered into the northbound lane hitting the toyota camry head on. the man from fremont was driving the camry and has injuries to the lower leg. he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and released from the hospital. the woman and young girl have live threatening injuries. the woman is suspected of driving drunk and could face

child endangerment charges if they have above the legal limit for driving. as for traffic, the area is completely blocked off. officers are hoping to have the road back open by 7:00 this morning. >> thank you, matt. >> it doesn't look like weather was a factor. mike? >> maybe some drizzle. i didn't notice the road being wet. there are wet spots left over from yesterday. something to keep in mind. grab the live doppler 7 hd in the northwest corner or the coastal part of sonoma county and points to mendocino and lake county we have the best radar runs. this morning the best place for wet weather is here in the north by. starting mid-morning, in the eastbound, it will slowly spread south. our morning commute could be dry in most areas but the evening commute, not is much.

the first forecast, rain spreaded south, temperatures are very mild upper 50's to mid-60's inland, and mid-to-upper 50's at the coast. sue? >> it is quiet. roads are dry. we have a problem in fremont, with the area code and the best alternate is fremont boulevard. we did have the webster 2 closed until 5:00 a.m., because of road work. we have an accident eastbound off the side of the road eastbound 580 at bass -- vasco the on-ramp is blocked. head lits headed in the westbound direction with road work on the left lanes will be picked up by 5:00 a.m. kristen and eric? >> from the east bay, a 14-year-old girl is dead struck by a train near what police call a popular but off