making news in america this morning, a life and death situation. that's the warning from the national weather service as a massive storm slams the northeast right now. 70 million americans are on alert for damaging winds and flooding rains. and in the west, another storm is forcing evacuations. this morning the timing of both storms and the travel delays nationwide. breaking news overnight, president trump meets with the nra at the white house as his gun control proposal stalls on capitol hill. is he now walking back one of the ideas he floated this week? hours after unveiling what he called invincible nuclear weapons, vladimir putin is asked whether he believes we're entering another cold war. his answer and what the pentagon is saying about those weapons. also this morning, the growing debate over whether nonsmokers should get more time

off from work. and the big news overnight about the oscars. the duo set to make their return to the stage on sunday night. good morning, everyone. i'm ryan smith in for kendis gibson. >> i'm diane macedo and we begin with storms hitting the east and west coast prompting evacuations and causing major travel delays. >> let's take a look at the radar in the east. 16 states from the carolinas to the maine are on alert bracing for extreme wind, flooding and erosion. >> the national weather service in boston has issued a dire warning for those along the coast, this is a life and death situation. this morning, hundreds of national guard troops have been called up in massachusetts ahead of a monster storm. >> we expect to lose homes during this storm. >> people along the coast are preparing for a nor'easter coinciding with three high tide cycles. it's being called a once in a generation event. >> i'm getting out of here.

i mean, for three days it was kind of fun but not now. it's not fun anymore. >> reporter: winds are expected to top 70 miles per hour and the torrential rains have prompted officials to sound the alarm. >> take this storm seriously, just because there's no snow doesn't mean that the travel conditions won't be really challenging. >> reporter: evacuations are already under way south of boston. water levels are expected to be the same or even exceed levels from the january storm that caused devastating flooding in that same area. even flooding of a boston's subway station. >> be prepared, yeah. we weren't last time so trying a little harder this time. >> reporter: meanwhile, on the west coast, the rain started falling overnight in southern california and will only intensify. a mandatory evacuation order is in place for up to 35,000 people in montecito less than two months after storm-driven mudslides destroyed homes and killed 21 people.

>> there is a risk for dangerous flash flooding, mud and debris flows. this is a challenging storm, and because of its direction and trajectory, it is impossible for the weather service to predict exactly where it is going to hit and exactly where the most intensely hit portion of your area will be. >> reporter: it's not just the rain bringing problems, california's sierra nevada is under a blizzard warning for several feet of snow expected. authorities have been going door to door evacuating homes in montecito. as for travel today, the worst airline delays are expected in chicago to boss and we'll have the complete forecast in just a few minutes. there could be another shake-up at the white house. sources say national security adviser h.r. mcmaster could step down as early as spring. his relationship with the president is described as being tense but the white house denies those reports. meanwhile, after the president reignited his feud with jeff sessions, press secretary sarah sanders offered a less than ringing endorsement of the

attorney general thursday. when asked if the president plans to fire him, sanders replied not that i know of. one more headline on the staffing challenges in the trump administration. the ambassador to mexico has become the latest career diplomat to resign. it comes days after the mexican president canceled his visit to the u.s. now to a development and debate over gun control. president trump met with officials from the nra last night at the white house and it appears he may have walked back a statement that he made during an earlier bipartisan meeting when he promised to take action. let's get the latest from abc's tara palmeri. tara, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, diane and ryan. president trump proposed a handful of gun control measures this week that rattled members of his own party. this week, president trump sounded more like a democrat than a republican on gun control. he challenged gop lawmakers to take on the powerful nra. >> some of you people are petrified of the nra. you can't be petrified. they want to do what's right. >> reporter: the nra has publicly opposed the president's proposal to raise the purchasing

age for rifles from 18 to 21. despite their differences, president trump met with leaders of the gun lobby on thursday night in what he called, quote, a great meeting. but this proposal -- >> i like taking the guns early. take the guns first, go through due process after. >> reporter: -- was a step too far for the gun lobby. nra executive director chris cox suggested at the meeting the president changed his tune tweeting, potus and vpotus support the second amendment, support due process and don't want gun control. it's his second meeting with the nra since the deadly shooting in parkland, florida. it's not just the nra the president will run up against but also members of the republican party. >> you have a different president now. >> listen -- >> you went through a lot of presidents and didn't get it done. >> mr. president, it will have to be you to bring the republicans to the table because right now the gun lobby would stop it in its tracks. >> i like that responsibility. chris, i think it's time. it's time that a president stepped up. >> reporter: meanwhile, a florida legislature voted to stop a tax exemption for delta for denying discounts to nra

members. abc news has learned that the president's unveiling of the school safety proposals have been delayed because of republican reaction to his statements. ryan, diane. >> all right, many waiting to hear how that debate pans out. tara palmeri from d.c. for us, thanks, tara. a u.s. official says the nuclear powered cruise missile that russian president vladimir putin unveiled thursday is not operational and has crashed in testing but still putin's rhetoric and the video he showed depicting an attack on florida is raising concern about a new cold war. in a new interview with nbc, putin called any talk of a cold war, quote, propaganda but he did say his new weapons are ready. >> every single weapon system discussed today easily surpasses and avoids an anti-missile defense system. the test was excellent. some of them still have to be fine-tuned and worked on. others are already available to the troops and already are battle ready. >> reporter: putin blamed the united states for starting a new

arms race when it pulled out of the anti-ballistic missile treaty in 2002 and analysts point out that putin's tough talk comes just ahead of the election which he is virtually guaranteed to win. here a jury in chattanooga, tennessee, has convicted a former school bus driver in a crash that killed six children. prosecutors say johnthony walker was going 20 miles over the speed limit and talking on his phone when he crashed that bus two years ago. he claimed he veered off the road to avoid another vehicle but jurors found him guilty on six counts of criminally negligent homicide. he could face decades in prison when he's sentenced next month. back now to our top story, the weather. let's get a closer look at your forecast for this friday. hey, good morning. heavy snow in the interior northeast today. flooding possible closer to the coastline and high gusting winds especially into the shorelines of new england. we could see those gusts up to 80 miles per hour in spots.

looking at local areas from central new york into northern pennsylvania seeing a foot and a half of snow. meanwhile, on the west coast, looking at heavy rain in those burn scar areas. mountain snow and high gusting onshore winds. i'm accuweather meteorologist julia weiden with your forecast. coming up, a huge migration of sharks caught on camera off the florida coast. but first president trump's new tariffs on steel and aluminum causing stocks to fall. overnight the products that you buy could soon get more expensive. a major bank in trouble again. this time for closing c

and liftoff of the atlas v and noaa's goes-s.

remarkable. we're back with the successful launch at the cape canaveral. nasa launching an advanced weather satellite into orbit that will track storms and wildfires in the western u.s. it's nasa's third weather satellite launch in 16 months. americans buying everything from vehicles to cans of beer could soon pay more when new tariffs are imposed. the president says the tariffs will protect those industries from unfair competition. stock markets have sold off since those tariffs were announced. asian stock markets plunged overnight as well following wall street's lead. the dow fell more than 400 points. investors worried about the fallout from those tariffs. >> the steel tariff announced is bad news for investors and the fact they're worried about a trade war. we don't even know the countries that the tariff is going to be imposed upon so every country now is getting their words and thoughts together and submitting them to the u.s. saying if you do this there will be a reaction. >> some congressional republicans blasted the tariff plan. nebraska senator ben sasse called it a massive tax increase

on americans and house speaker paul ryan urged the president to consider the unintended consequences. meanwhile, canada and the european union have already threatened to retaliate if the tariffs are imposed. wells fargo says four board members including three of its longest serving directors will step down next month over a fake bank account scandal that erupted 18 months ago. whistle-blowers uncovered widespread misconduct among bank employees who opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet sales quotas. and now the justice department has ordered the bank to investigate similar issues in the wealth management division. the lawsuit also accuses wells fargo of trying to save money by closing the accounts of fraud victims without investigating. just two days after we told you about housing secretary ben carson getting a $31,000 dining room set for his office, that order has now been canceled. a spokesman for the agency insists carson did not ask his staff to buy such expensive furniture. it's the latest in the case of a trump cabinet member coming

under fire for lavish expenses but a spokesperson for the american home furnishing alliance released this statement saying consumers might be outraged at the concept of spending $31,000, but this furniture will last 50 plus years of daily, rugged use. they are rugged over there. >> item. always good to have some rugged dishware. absolutely. when we come back a snack that could help fight cancer. also ahead, the controversy in country music that's prompted mike huckabee to resign from a top position. but first the arrest made in california after children are found living in a plywood box, apparently living there for years. gentle recipe. new oat delicacy by whole blends. a paraben-free, caring formula. blended with oat milk and rice cream extracts. gentle on scalp with intensive moisture for hair. without the weigh down. new whole blends oat delicacy. and for even more care, whole blends detangling milk. on damp hair, comb through

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fall asleep faster, allergies with sinus you won't find relief here. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d... while the leading allergy spray relieves six symptoms, claritin-d relieves eight, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. we're back with a disturbing story from southern california after police uncovered a family living in filth inside a box. now, the parents of those children have been arrested and the kids are now in protective custody. >> police stumbled upon the scene during a property check in joshua tree, california.

now, they found three kids ages 11, 13 and 14 had been living in a plywood box for as many as four years. they also found about 40 cats along with mounds of trash and human waste. police say they made the discovery after one of the children escaped. >> the ages of those small children are not able to make a choice like that, you know. it seems to be forced on them. it's not right. >> this morning 73-year-old daniel panico and 51-year-old mona kirk are being held on bail charged with cruelty to children. the search for a young mother who was reported missing from her front yard in virginia has come to a tragic end. investigators say a suspect has led them to the body of 23-year-old terrilynn st. john. police say the suspect was an acquaintance of hers and admits to get nothing an argument with her on tuesday outside her home as she was getting her children ready for day care. he says he strangled her and hid her body in the woods. the children were not injured. in medical news another benefit to eat nuts.

a new study from yale university found eating them can improve the survival rates among colon cancer patients by more than 50%. all it took was two servings a week of walnuts, almonds or other tree nuts and other studies have also shown people who eat nuts tend to be leaner. we have a safety alert for parents this morning. thousands of high chairs are being recalled because they could suddenly collapse. the graco table to table chair were sold at walmart. several children have been injured when the back leg buckled. we have more details about that recall on our website, atmfans.com. a controversy in country music has ended with the resignation of former arkansas governor mike huckabee from a key position. huckabee had accepted a job on the board of the cma foundation but hours later he quit. he was under pressure after several artists protested his views on gay rights and guns and threatened to leave the charity. huckabee calls his critics bullies but says he's stepping down for the good of the foundation. a college basketball coach

in texas has lost his job because of the reason he gave for turning down a potential recruit. the president of texas wesleyan university announced thursday that the coach was fired for rejecting a student from colorado because marijuana is legal there. coach mike jeffcoat had worked at the texas school for 16 years until he responded to an inquiry from a high school senior with this e-mail writing, quote, we are not recruiting players from colorado. in the past players have had trouble passing our drug test. you can thank your liberal politicians. well, sometimes you have to be lucky and good to keep the number one ranking in the country. with only 0.9 seconds left in the virginia/louisville game last night, virginia was down two. de'andre hunter throws up the three at the buzzer. you saw it. it banked in. uva wiped out a five-point deficit in the final minute to win 67-66. hunter said it was his first ever game winner. college students aren't the only ones heading south for spring break.

black tipped sharks have started their annual migration to the waters off south florida. but fewer than usual are making the trip this year. scientists say dropping water temperatures have reduced the number of heat seeking black tipped sharks by a third. >> still a lot. look at that. up next in "the pulse," find out who is returning to the oscars this year after an embarrassing mix-up last time. also ahead, the debate over whether nonsmokers at the office should get more vacation time than people who smoke. see what the winners of a $60 million lottery jackpot all have in common and how they're splitting it. hey allergy muddlers: are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® zyrtec® starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec®. muddle no more®.

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dunaway and warren beatty. >> second time is a charm. their unforgetting error while presenting the academy award was dubbed the worst mistake in oscars history. apparently they are getting another chance. >> yeah, tmz reports they will present the best picture oscar on sunday again. they were reportedly rehearsing their lines at the theater last night. let's hope they get the right envelope this time. i would have liked to have been at that practice session to just -- >> okay, warren, read it again. >> ready? one more time. okay. well, next to a new survey that's heating up around the water cooler in offices across the country. >> an e-cigarette company asked more than a thousand people about smoke breaks and found two-thirds of nonsmokers say they should get extra vacation days to make up for all that time their smoking colleagues spend outside on their cigarette break. >> not surprisingly 75% of cigarettes disagreed. still researchers calculate that

the average smoker puffs away roughly six full workdays per year. i would take an extra six days. >> i would not mind an extra six days of vacation. i don't think we're going to win that. >> i don't think so. >> we could try. 31 canadian co-workers have now joined the millionaires club and they can take as long of a vacation as they want. >> they don't have to go back ever. they all chipped in to buy a winning lottery ticket in newfoundland. the prize is worth $47 million u.s. the winners include eight people from the same town, three on the same street and all get 3.5 million u.s. apiece. >> not too shabby. before the big win all 31 worked at an oil refinery. most of them are actually going back to work, believe it or not, but five of them say they have already retired. the name of the refinery is come by chance refinery so a little bit of irony there as well. but i know at least one of those workers said they decided to retire within about two minutes of confirming the winning number. >> and the people who are still

going back are probably coming in once every three weeks or whenever they want to. >> just to gloat. now, how about this, basketball star steph curry shattered so many nba records. >> but when it comes to golf the only thing he's shattering is in his office. yeah, that's a glass top table on instagram. curry explained he took a few practice swings in a hotel room rather, not his office. he added #idiot. i guess that practice swing didn't go so well. >> i think he thought he was with sorensen williams in that commercial. golf is hard, he responded. >> yes, indeed. tays strong and resilient for a lifetime the more that we can strengthen and re-harden that tooth surface, the whiter their patients' teeth are going to be. dentists are going to really want to recommend pronamel strong and bright. it helps to strengthen and re-harden the enamel. it also has stain lifting action. it's going to give their patients the protection that they need and the whiter teeth that they want. ♪

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good morning. it's 4:27. you made it to friday. you made it through the worst of the storm. we'll find out now. you're never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. >> the heaviest of the rain is over. there's still a lot of green out there. very small. some minor showers to deal with as we head through the morning commute. we'll take a look at the accuweather 12-hour planner coming up in about three minutes. let's show you the temperatures. you'll have to dress warmer this morning. we're anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees cooler with mid to upper 30s in the north bay valleys. low to mid 40s in the inland east bay valleys. lower to upper 40s around the bay and toward the coast. let's look at the morning commute. little drier this morning. definitely. we're hoping for a smoother day

on the roads, that's for sure. i have live doppler 7 over the traffic maps too. maybe a little bit of wet pavement left. we're hearing about a spinout crash at northbound 280 to stevens creek. it's facing the wrong way and blocking the left lane. no tea lace at this early hour. here's a quick check of the bay bridge toll plaza. little stack-up in the cash lanes. much, much drier than this time yesterday. right now, investigators trying to find the cause of a fire at a vacant building on treasure island. look at this brand new video. firefighters arrived after 11:00 last night to find the structure fully involved. high winds made fighting the fire pretty difficult. crews took a defensive position and let the fire burn for an hour before it was declared out. there were no reported injuries. this is at least the third vacant building to burn in the last few days. the first two were in oakland and thought to be started by the

homeless. again, this morning, an investigation under way into the cause. jessica, thank you. an orinda east bay mud crews worked into the night to repair a water main. it burst on thursday morning. the asphalt broke it and punctured a gas line. pg&e had to repair the gas line first. coming up on 4:30. let's get an update on weather and traffic in case you're just joining us this morning. mike? >> we still have a chance of moderate rain out of the scattered showers that we're going to have today and tomorrow. there's a chance of lightning, thunder and some small hail and the winds could be locally gusty around these pockets of moderate rain. it's not going to be a complete washout like for most of the day yesterday. i do have to put a chance of wet weather every single time frame in my 12-hour planner. whether it's 7:00 this morning, noon, 4:00 this afternoon or

7:00 this evening. those temperatures very cool from the 30s and 40s at 7:00. low to mid-50s from noon to 4:00. grab a coat this evening. you'll need it. we'll be in the mid to upper 40s. let's get another check of what's going on. see if there's other hotspots. i know there were some damp spots when i drove in. >> little bit of wet pavement but not as much standing water. we're looking live at the san mateo bridge. no issues on westbound 92. we did have high wind advisories issued around midnight for altamont pass and the benicia bridge and antioch bridge. we could still have some gusts out there. let's look along the windy stretches. 20 minutes there. >> alexis, thank you. howling winds and saturated soil caused some trees to come down in the bay area. one 100-foot tree took out power. >> o