making news in america this morning, guilty. the swift decision in the american sniper trial overnight and a jury taking little time to put away the man that shot chris kyle and his friend. new reaction from the families. southern freeze. the danger zone today from texas to virginia. rare accumulating snow coating roads and closing schools. caught on camera. the moment a quiet street became a disaster zone. the blast littering homes with debris. could this actually happen in your neighborhood? and say cheese. the ultimate selfie 268 miles up. good wednesday morning to you all. thank you for spending time with

us. this verdict came quickly. late last night in the american sniper trial, this was a case, of course, we were all watching closely. >> that's right. jurors finding eddie ray routh guilty of murdering chris kyle and his friend, chad littlefield, apparently not buying the insanity defense. it was a highly emotional end for the victims' families. here's abc's bazi kanani. >> we, the jury, find the defendant, eddie ray routh, guilty. >> reporter: a quick verdict from the jury deciding that former marine eddie routh knew what he was doing when he attacked the navy's most famous sniper, chris kyle, and his friend, chad littlefield. abc's ryan owens covered the trial from the beginning. >> the clerk here tells us that of that 2 1/2 hours, an hour of it was for dinner, so a very quick decision from a jury of ten women and two men. the defense had argued strenuously for not guilty by reason of insanity. a jury rejecting that sending eddie routh away for the rest of his life.

>> we've waited two years for god to get justice for us on behalf of our son and as always god has proved to be faithful. >> reporter: their families leaving the court in tears after 2 weeks of testimony from 30 witnesses including kyle's widow who was back in the texas courtroom tuesday after a weekend trip to represent her husband at the oscars where the blockbuster film recounting his heroics in iraq was nominated six times. taya kyle told the court about the last time she saw her husband. >> that we loved each other and gave each other a kiss and hug like we always did. >> reporter: later that day at a shooting range routh gunned down the fellow veterans who were trying to help him cope with ptsd. defense attorneys argued he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time. prosecutors showed the jury this video of routh leading police on a high-speed chase after the murders arguing

it proves that despite any mental health issues, he knew what he did was wrong. bazi kanani, abc news, washington. we turn to another major story this morning and, yeah, it's weather again. much of the south facing a third round of severe winter weather. >> the worst of it stretches from northern texas across to virginia and includes a band of rare accumulating snow. >> the southern storms have caused a lot of traffic accidents, as you can imagine. in dallas it took -- look at this -- took almost 24 hours to remove that thing, a truck dangling from an overpass. other travel, a nightmare, as well. hundreds of flights delayed or canceled. atlanta's schools canceled and in north texas the schools should re-open on time or might have to wait until a little later this morning. up north the frigid cold choking shipping lanes on the great lakes. more than 80% of the surface covered by ice, as much as two to three feet thick here. so far, this winter the coast guard has come to the rescue of nearly 250 ships, some running low on supplies while stuck in the ice. let's get the full wednesday forecast from the guy who knows what he's taking about,

accuweather's justin povick. good morning to you, justin. >> t.j. and reena, thanks. and good morning. a very slippery start to the day over the deep south. yes, more rain, more snow and more sleet. we only got a brief break in between storm systems. there was a flood potential along interstate 10 over northern florida with several inches of snow from little rock on eastbound. in fact, here are some cities that are going to be impacted. well, like i said, little rock all the way into the carolinas right through wednesday night. t.j. and reena, back to you. >> all right, justin, thank you so much. there has been an arrest in connection with that commuter train derailment near los angeles. investigators say that man, jose ramirez, mistakenly turned onto the tracks and was facing the oncoming metrolink train when he jumped out. dozens of train passengers were hurt in the crash. four people, including the train's engineer, in critical condition now. ramirez facing felony hit-and-run charges. ntsb spokesman says there's no doubt about where the truck was headed.

>> it was not as if it was stranded on the tracks and that would be a fair statement. it was not stuck, bottomed out on the track or something like that. it had actually traveled down the railroad track itself. >> officials say it could have been much worse except for new technology which allows the front of the train to crumple and absorb the energy of the collision. new this morning, four students from wesleyan university in connecticut have been arrested on drug charges after nearly a dozen of their peers were hospitalized over the weekend. the sickened students had all taken the party drug known as molly. two of them still in the hospital. all four suspects were immediately suspended from the university. george zimmermann will not face federal charges in the shooting death of trayvon martin. after interviewing dozens of witnesses, the justice department found there was not enough evidence to prove zimmermann killed the unarmed florida teenager because of his race. zimmermann was acquitted of murder charges and the shooting sparked national protests two years before ferguson. martin's parents expressed

disappointment but thanked the justice department for its investigation. well, no surprise here, president obama as promised vetoed the keystone pipeline bill. republicans had hailed it as a way to boost the economy. environmentalists opposed it, however. it's only the third veto of the obama presidency. there are not enough votes in congress to override it. overseas police in london believe three teenaged girls have reached their goal crossing the border from turkey into syria to join isis. >> but while isis steps up its recruitment of young people, a different breed of young warrior taking up the battle against isis including one 28-year-old u.s. army veteran identified only as brett. he's not serving with the military anymore but alongside the local militia in an abandoned christian village near mosul where abc's terry moran caught up with him. >> look on that road. you'll see isis flags lined up and down that road, as well. >> reporter: they're out there. >> that's our motivation every day. >> reporter: you want to get those flags. >> they're coming down. i've had a lot of people refer

to me as the american crusader. i'm not here for violence. i'm here for peace but sometimes that peace comes at the end of a sword, which today is at the end of a barrel. >> the detroit native makes no apology for becoming what he calls a soldier of christ. and also new overnight, chicago mayor rahm emanuel faces a new hurdle in his quest for a second term. the former white house chief of staff fell short of the 50% needed to win outright and avoid a runoff election. he is now going to face a contest in april with the second place finisher. and if you can vastly outspend everyone else, you could have a really good selfie. >> this is a good picture. >> this picture snapped by astronaut butch wilmore during a space walk outside the international space station. >> besides wilmore, you can see another astronaut in his helmet visor. right there. the earth behind him, as well. these guys have another space walk planned for today. maybe they'll get some work done instead of just hanging out and taking pictures. >> hey. >> i'm kidding. >> we're enjoying these.

well, coming up, the new top cars from "consumer reports." also, southwest airlines grounds dozens of planes forcing many flight cancellations. the faa now with an announcement overnight that could help southwest out a bit. and not so fast, the gas station theft caught on camera. wait till you see how this victim reacts.

hmm. [cell phone beeps] hey! [police whistle blows] [horns honking] woman: hey! [bicycle bell rings] turn here. there. excuse me. uh. uh. [indistinct announcement on p.a. system]

so same time next week? well, of course. announcer: put away a few bucks. feel like a million bucks. for free tips to help you save, go to ♪ feed the pig ♪ breaking overnight, the faa has agreed to allow southwest airlines jets to fly despite a maintenance issue. earlier the airline had grounded 128 planes because a routine inspection on a backup system had been missed. that resulted in about 90 flights being canceled but late last night the faa said the planes could fly as long as the

inspections were completed in the next five days. "consumer reports" is out with its annual car rankings. it includes some successes for new makes and models and plenty of repeat winners. the tesla model s is rated the best car you can buy for a second year in a row. maybe it should be. it starts at about 70 grand. some other categories, the buick regal was named best sports sedan beating out a bmw model which won the past two years. the best midsize sedan went to the subaru legacy, which topped the honda accord, and the honda odyssey was named best minivan for the third straight year in a row. we turn to stocks now and for the second time this week the dow and the s&p will open at record highs. the nasdaq will be seeking its 11th consecutive advance today. all three posted small gains yesterday following comments from the fed chief janet yellen. she told congress the fed will be patient about raising interest rates. well, kids are cashing in and the tooth fairy is feeling the pinch leaving a bundle under pillows across the country. >> average payment for baby

teeth these days has jumped 25%. jumped 25% last year, check this out. l.a. kids are raking in over $9.50 a tooth. 6 bucks in chicago. a little over $5 a pop in boston, dallas and houston. but look at the kids, you little brats in new york, they are getting over 13 bucks a tooth on average. >> this can't be right. come on. >> well, you said you got a dollar. >> i got a dollar. >> i got 25 cents. >> you got to talk to your parents. >> i'm going to deal with that later. coming back, when we come back, the stunning demands being made in the divorce of a billionaire couple. lots of money for stuff like stationery. also details on that house explosion in new jersey. neighbors telling us what they felt when this happened. ace, it's about getting to the finish line. in life, it's how you get there that matters most. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger problem. so he talked to me about xarelto®. >>xarelto® is the first oral prescription blood thinner proven to treat and help prevent dvt and pe

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monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. treatment with xarelto® was the right move for me. ask your doctor about xarelto® today. can you make that out, folks? seeing dense fog here all but shut down the port of tampa. only one ship was able to dock yesterday, and that was an overdue cruise ship that had to be escorted carefully in by the coast guard.

more than 2,000 passengers aboard the "brilliance of the seas" got an extra day and a half on their cruise. i guess they couldn't see much but dense fog, but, hey. >> hey, it's tampa. it's fantastic there. >> oh, wow, spoken like someone who might be from the area. >> you'll probably be late if you're driving the deep south today. roads will be icy from north texas across to the atlantic coast and wet along the gulf coast. snow will make roads slippery in the upper midwest and in the rockies. you'll also find wet roads in the pacific northwest. if you're trying to fly, airport delays likeliest in dallas, atlanta, charlotte and boston. well, an extraordinary scene in a new jersey town as a natural gas explosion levels a house and injures more than a dozen people. >> take a look at this. seven of those injured were gas company workers investigating reports of a natural gas odor. 75 to 100 homes evacuated as a precaution. all those folks outside in that bone-chilling cold. the people that live there say it felt like they had been hit by an earthquake.

>> felt like the house moved. and i come outside and see that plume of smoke. once the gas company was turning everything off, it's going to be a long night so loaded up. sleep next to the fireplace. >> there's insulation hanging in the trees outside. i mean, ash all over the deck but we're blessed. we're blessed. >> two of the injured workers though are in critical condition. the house was under construction at the time. it was unoccupied when it blew. well we have now something to show you here which is a pretty compelling reminder of why we all should take things a little slowly there on slick roads and you need to buckle up. police dash cam, the highlighted image. that's a crash on a cleveland highway. what happens here, the man is going some 70 miles an hour, loses control, slams into another vehicle, and then he is ejected from the car. he staggers to his feet. you see him there able to get up and that's something in itself but apparently he was not wearing his seat belt and was

tossed from that car. well, we turn now to a violent confrontation, something else caught on video at a houston gas station. you can see a man reaching into a woman's car, she's filling up her tank on the other side and notices what's going on, decides she's going to fight back. leaps over the seat, ends up hanging on to the door of his vehicle even as he's pulling off. the woman suffered a few bumps and bruises, but she managed to snatch back her wallet and her cell phone. it's worth noting, as always, as we say, reena, this worked out this time, but police don't recommend it's worth putting up a fight. you never know even though it worked out this time. >> i probably wouldn't try that one. well, important medical news now for women. a new study finds that younger women often ignore or dismiss early warning signs of a heart attack because they say they're uninformed, embarrassed and not taken seriously when they do seek help, and that's especially troubling given the fact that heart disease is still the number one killer for men and women. well there's yet another

twist in one of the nation's biggest divorce settlements. the former wife of multibillionaire hedge fund owner ken griffin is seeking $1 million a month in child support. the couple has three kids that are all under the age of 10 and need four nannies to take care of the kids. the monthly expenses include $14,000 for food, they eat it per se apparently once a week. $300,000 for a private jet, how else are the kids supposed to get to school, 160,000 for vacations. it costs to go to the south of france, reena, and then 2,000 for stationery. >> i'd like to know how much the nannies cost. i'm willing to apply today. >> might be a good gig. you know what, they're probably underpaid in this whole thing. that's something. some criticism being directed at the creators of the new look of the cleveland browns. >> yeah, there's the old look of the team's logo. that's the one you're seeing on the left. the new look on the right. well where is the criticism coming from? it's stemming from the fact that they don't look all that different. that's the issue. the browns still playing in orange helmets. you'll see them in september, so why even change anything? what's the big deal? >> there you go.

another one of cleveland's teams features in our nba highlights. >> yeah we get those highlights from our guys at espn. >> good morning. welcome to our "sportscenter" set in los angeles along with chris hassel, i'm stan verrett. steph curry missed the warriors first game of the six-game road trip and they lost against the pacers. >> they certainly missed him. he was back, though, rested that sore foot and, well, he put a foot right into the wizards. yeah, yeah, yeah. curry going baseline, 14 third quarter points. warriors were up 3 heading to the fourth. fourth quarter, warriors up 3 with under 4 to play. andre iguodala in the corner for three. and curry finishes things off. he had 32 points, 8 assists, the rest does him good. look at that shot. warriors at cavs on thursday. can't wait for that. >> you say cavaliers? >> yeah. taking on the pistons. cleveland won 16 of 18 coming in. lebron james is five assists

from passing scottie pippen for the most assists all-time by a forward. throwing it up for timothy mozgov and ties pippen with that one and then later he hooks up kevin love who hit eight triples in this game for 24 points and james passes pippen. now the nba's all-time assist leader among forwards. he also scored 19 points, had 11 assists in the game to go with 7 rebounds. the cavaliers win it, 102-93, so that's 17 of 19 for cleveland. looks like the east is theirs to win because derrick rose is having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee once again. so bad news for the bulls. >> terrible. he's stan, i'm chris. good morning. >> back to you. we got "the pulse" coming your way next. what to do when there's nine feet of snow in the front yard. well, you could try to sell it. their type 2 diabetes... ...with non-insulin victoza. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza. he said victoza works differently than pills and comes in a pen.

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>> i'm sorry, y'all. reena did a toss across the room. let's till you about a winter edition of "the pulse." >> a resident of canada's maritime provinces has a solution to shoveling all that snow off his driveway. he's dug a tunnel through and began his great escape after a storm dumped three feet of snow on prince edward island. >> took him six hours to dig it tall enough to stand up in. >> i'm about 5'9" so there's -- i'm just about at the top here but there's still about three feet above our heads. and there's another car a few feet to the left of here that i've yet to excavate. >> yeah car is not out yet but eventually that will be a light at the end of this tunnel and it will be the headlights making news in america this of his vehicle. >> a record-breaking winter in boston with the super bowl championship and an incredible amount of snow. >> and now you can be a part of it all even if you don't live there.

an area resident will sell you, sell you a bottle of guaranteed genuine local snow for 20 bucks or get six pounds of the stuff in an insulated box shipped overnight for 89 bucks. finally in this pulse winter edition, winter aussie style. >> summer down under. a bump of guys who do great trick shots posted a video taking advantage of the beach catching a frisbee after jumping off a boat. >> there it is. >> but they're hitting basketballs while being pulled on an inner tube. got a boogie board off the ramp and alley-oop shot. oh that looks good. for everyone freezing here at home take note temperatures in sydney will feel like the mid-80s for the rest of the week. it's just over threes weeks away, spring. >> you promise? >> ginger zee told me that's the case. trust that woman. >> i do. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everybody else we are going to clean up reena's mess

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good wednesday morning. it is 4:28. thank you for joining us. >> i am eric thomas. with leyla gulen and meteorologist mike nicco. >> notice the difference? >> not so cold. >> not so cold. not so dry. less than quarter-mile fog at petaluma. the rest of us have clouds around the bay. the 12 hour day planner shows mostly the low-to-mid 40s this morning. not so many 30s. by noon, we will transition to sunshine. mid-50s at coast. nearly 60 for the rest of us. we will be in the low-to-upper 60s and inland at 4:00 and mid-to-upper fists for the action hour. love the transitioning to

sunshine. >> now, light conditions at the bay bridge toll plaza with no problems whatsoever. on the san mateo bridge things are moving along over there and you can see across the water dotted with a couple of hours with construction in the bay area. i will tell you up ahead. >> c.h.p. and other agencies are searching if suspects right now in martinez off interstate 680 after a pursuit that began in sacramento this morning. amy hollyfield? >> here is the crashed car being towed. there were five people inside the car. they all jumped out and ran. c.h.p. caught three of them. the pursuit started in sacramento. c.h.p. says from the looks of things inside it appears the group robbed a department store. there is so of stuff inside. in vacaville officers love the car because the car blacked out

meaning it turns off all the lights. the car was stolen. the on-star system kicked in and gave the location and speed. officers got ahead of them put out the spikes and the car ran over him. that ruined the tires. 9 car exited at 680. there was no rubber least on the cars. they could not turn. they crashed. police have three in custody. police say they did find a gun inside the car. they now have dogs tracking the scent of the other two people as they look for them. the three they caught are now on the way to jail. thank you. southwest airlines grounded 128 planes and canceled 100 flights this morning. southwest says they have grounded a fifth of the fleet after realizing that it missed manned fore rudder inspections. f.a.a. says they