morning america." have a great day. making news in america this morning, a windchill of 70 below zero in the upper midwest. the historic life-threatening cold spreading right now. nearly 60 million americans at risk. mail delivery canceled in some areas. train tracks set on fire. a man found frozen to death in his garage. this morning the risk for children, people on certain medications and pets and how to protect them. outbreak growing. more than a dozen measles hot spots causing new concern. doctors confirming at least 36 cases in washington alone as others are forced to quarantine. >> i've just gotten to the point where i'm angry. >> how health officials will plan to respond. actor attacked. the star of the hit show

"empire" reportedly beaten doused in chemicals, a rope put around his neck. was it a hate crime? the clue police have. the boy who uncovered a shocking privacy flaw with the iphone speaks out. he says apple was warned. surprise. the heartwarming moment this rams player surprised the january for ahead of the super bowl. no time for the gym? no worry, the encouraging news for busy people trying to stay fit and healthy. good wednesday morning, everyone. we begin with a weather emergency. temperatures we haven't seen in more than two decades putting millions of americans at risk. >> 85% of the country is facing temperatures at or below freezi. but it's the windchill that's historic forcing schools and offices to close. it will feel like 50 degrees me small towns in minnesota could approach 70 below.

that's colder than the south pole. this morning, the deadly winter cold tightening its grip on the upper plains and midwest. lakes and rivers frozen solid. any moisture in the air crystallized by the subzero temperatures sending flurries of ice and snow across highways blinding drivers. >> reported multiple semis at least ten vehicles involved. >> reporter: roadways littered with crashes in minnesota and wisconsin. >> can't predict where you'll slide. >> reporter: while railways in chicago are paralyzed by the frigid cold. workers setting tracks on fire to keep commuter trains moving but amtrak canceling all service in chicago today. >> yeah, this is just really cold. >> reporter: even the post office stopping delivery in parts of 11 states because of the cold. and the death toll is climbing. the cold front claiming another life tuesday. a wisconsin man found frozen to death in his garage. doctors are emphasizing the risk of this cold, frostbite can set in in just five minutes. parents warn children need to wear at least one more layer

than adults because their bodies lose heat faster. doctors warning some medications like insulin can lose effecti effectiveness and can affect yourable to regulate body temperature and pet owners warned to cover your pet's feet to protect them from salt and chemicals. some are making the best of this arctic blast. this man letting gravity do the work while cleaning snow off his roof in michigan. a sheriff's department using the cold to freeze a uniform in place so it stands on its own. and place in missouri asking criminals to take a break because it's too cold to fight crime. just incredible and the cold is moving east and south. it feels like 16 degrees in atlanta. we'll have the forecast in less than five minutes. we turn now to washington where negotiations get under way on capitol hill today to avoid another government shutdown. a bipartisan group of lawmakers will hold their first meeting today as they face a february 15th deadline to hammer out a deal on border security and wall funding. president trump has given them less than a 50/50 chance of coming up with a compromise he can accept. top u.s. intelligence

officials are contradicting the president when it comes to assessing which foreign countries and organizations pose a threat to the u.s. the contradictions became clearer during their testimony on capitol hill. abc's serena marshall has the key takeaways. good morning, serena. >> reporter: kenneth, janai, good morning to you. the directors of the nsa, fbi, cia all testifying on capitol hill about the greatest threats facing america, but one thing they didn't bring up, that so-called crisis at the u.s./mexico border that the president has been considering declaring a national emergency over. isis, north korea, iran and russia, those are the biggest threats facing our nation according to u.s. intelligence chiefs and much of what they said contradicting their own commander in chief. >> isis is intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in iraq and syria. >> reporter: warning we should not underestimate terror groups like isis even as the president claimed last month -- >> we have won against isis. >> reporter: when it comes to north korea, the cia director believes -- >> the regime is committed to

developing a long-range nuclear armed missile that would pose a direct threat to the united states. >> reporter: a vastly different assessment of the president's proclamation following last year's summit, there is no longer a nuclear threat from north korea. and on iran, the president has claimed -- >> in just a short period of time the world's leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world's most dangerous weapon. >> reporter: arguing that was why he pulled out of the mul multinational nuclear agreement but from the director of national intelligence. >> we do not believe iran is currently undertaking activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device. >> reporter: and then there's russia's continued efforts to undermine u.s. >> we've seen indication that they're continuing to adapt their model. >> reporter: one thing however not addressed -- >> this is a tremendous crisis. >> crisis. >> crisis. >> reporter: that so-called crisis at the u.s. ohio mexico

border which the president has been almost singular focused on in the last weeks. the most significant threat is china according to the fbi director. he said that nearly every agency and every field office has an open investigation into their use of economic espionage. janai, kenneth. >> all right, serena marshall in washington. thank you. new concerns about the measles outbreak in washington state this morning. with new cases confirmed, health officials from across the country are coming together today to discuss how to respond. at least 36 cases have been confirmed in clark county, washington. lily johnson is being quarantined after she was possibly exposed and her parents are angry because doctors believe lily who is too young for a vaccination was put at risk by people who choose not to vaccinate their children. >> i've just gotten to the point where i'm angry and, yeah, it's -- good dialogue isn't easy to come by when you're actually angry. >> if we were all working together this wouldn't be an issue.

>> reporter: washington state has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. pediatrician paul compromise treats hundreds of kids who have vaccine hesitant parents. dr. thomas says he believes there is a link between vaccines and autism despite the cdc saying otherwise. >> i've seen it with my own eyes. i've heard hundreds of parents tell me the same story over and over again. their baby was fine and they got a series of vaccines or a particular vaccine and regressed almost immediately into severe what we call autism. sometimes it's some version of that. >> public health experts are now watching these 14 so-called hot spots around the country where they're currently seeing a widespread delay or refusal to vaccinate children. investigators are trying to determine what caused a medical helicopter to crash in southern ohio. three crew members were killed when the chopper went down in a wooded area. they were on their way to pick up a patient. in california, a pilot was killed when his plane crashed

into this hillside near san diego. another man on board was seriously injured. he says he waited ten hours in the wreckage before rescuers arrived. fog may have played a role in the crash. time now for a look at your weather forecast for this wednesday morning. good morning. the arctic front will slice its way throughout the entire east coast involving everybody by the time we get into the evening hours. look at these numbers, we're talking about 40 to 50 below in detroit, chicago, milwaukee. we're looking at 40 below throughout portions of the ohio valley. and it gets worse. we're looking at record-challenging cold throughout minneapolis, beating record lows set as far back as 1887. fargo, we're expecting 29 below and that's just to start. that's going to happen throughout a good portion of the m midwest and the ohio valley region. i'm accuweather meteorologist paul williams. coming up, is it too cold to deliver beer? we're on the case coming up.

also the questions being raised by this video appearing to show a man sleeping behind the wheel of a tesla. >> and new details about the alleged attack on actor jussie smollett, star of the

♪ baby come to me let me put my arms around you ♪ this morning we're remembering james ingram. "baby come to me" was one of his big hits nominated for 14 grammys as both a singer and songwriter winning twice. he reportedly suffered from brain cancer. ingram was 66. closing arguments are expected today in new york in the trial of notorious mexican

drug lord el chapo. the defense only called one witness before wrapping up its case in just 30 minutes tuesday. the jury could get the case before the end of the week. especially chapeau faces life in prison if convicted on murder and conspiracy charges. a frightening scene at this parking garage in miami after a car fell nine stories to the ground and burst into flames, you see there. the garage uses elevators to carry vehicles up and down and the car somehow rolled through a safety gate and fell down the elevator shaft. no one was hurt. we're now hearing from the teenager who uncovered the now infamous privacy flaw with iphones. apple says the facetime glitch allowed you to hear the person you were calling before they picked up. 14-year-old grant thompson noticed the problem last week when he was chatting with his friends. he and his mother reached out to apple to alert the company but his mom says they didn't get much of a response. >> i read like probably a month before this, i read about like the apple bug program and i asked my mom, i was just like, hey, is there a way we could report this to apple to see if

we could like eventually get a reward? a week and a half or a week or so passed by where she kept trying to contact apple, kept trying to report this, and it was just a huge hassle until the media found out. >> bloomberg reports the first lawsuit connected to the glitch has now been filed by a houston attorney who says someone used the flaw to listen to sworn testimony. apple says it will issue a fix for the problem this week. a driver outside las vegas has apparently been caught asleep at the wheel literally. he appears to be using the tesla autopilot system which is supposed to take steps to prevent drivers from dozing off. if that fails, the tesla is supposed to slow down and stop but experts say it is possible to get around the program. >> yikes. well, coming up, the new controversy over the super bowl halftime show. also ahead, gwyneth paltrow facing a major lawsuit for what she allegedly did on a ski slope. but first a mother carrying her baby in a stroller dies after falling down the stairs in the subway. why her death is igniting a backlash and a call for change.

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♪ i'll never be big enough to pay your dues but i keep trying ♪ that's actor jussie smollett in the tv series "empire." much like his character in the show, he's a black man, a gay man and a musician. he's also an advocate for gay rights in the real world. this morning, police in chicago say he may be the victim of a brutal hate crime. >> they're expanding the search area looking for possible suspects. they say they don't have video of the alleged assault but they do have images of him at the scene. abc's danya bacchus has more. >> reporter: police say singer and actor jussie smollett was in chicago filming and out getting a snack when he was attacked by masked men around 2:00 a.m. tuesday morning. >> he's supposed to be well-known requesting a report and said a noose was placed over the friend's neck. >> reporter: the star of the popular drama series "empire" telling police he was approached

by two unknown offenders yelling out racial and homophobic slurs towards him. police say they beat him up, poured an unknown chemical over him and wrapped a rope around him. smollett telling the investigators the attackers were yelling maga country. investigators believe this might be a hate crime. they're looking into a letter delivered over a week ago threatening the actor's life. in real life -- >> there is no closet. there's never been a closet that i've been in. >> reporter: smollett coming out publicly on "the ellen degeneres show." on television -- ♪ told me it was love but it wasn't ♪ >> reporter: his character is a gay man who struggles to please his powerful black music executive father. lee daniels, smollett's director and the creator of "empire," a black gay man himself, posting this emotional message on social message. >> you didn't deserve nor anybody deserves to have a noose put around your neck. >> reporter: investigators hoping security cameras in this swank corner of downtown chicago

where the alleged attack happened will be helpful. smollett was treated at a local hospital. the company that produces "empire" now saying all of its actors will have armed guards. kenneth and janai. >> our thanks to danya. to a tragedy in new york city, a young mother falling to her death at a subway station. 22-year-old malaysia goodson was holding her baby daughter and her stroller when she fell down the stairs. the baby was not harmed. the medical examiner will determine whether she had a medical issue that caused the fall or she died from the impact. many new yorkers say the accident shows the need for more accessibility in the subway including more elevators. actress gwyneth paltrow is being sued for an alleged hit-and-run on a ski slope in utah. a 72-year-old doctor claims paltrow ran into him from behind breaking four of his ribs and causing brain damage. he is seeking more than $3 million in damages. a spokesperson for paltrow says the case is without merit. there's a new chapter in the super bowl halftime controversy. the nfl has announced maroon 5

will not be appearing at the pre-super bowl press conference. the league says the artist will let the show do the talking. critics claim the band is avoiding tough questions about headlining the show amid the controversy over the nfl's handling of colin kaepernick and player protests which reportedly hampered the search for halftime reporters. and a custodian at the l.a. rams stadium will get to see maroon 5 and the rest of the super bowl thanks to a player on the team. brandin cooks gave alfonso garcia tickets and airfare to the game in atlanta. garcia says he's dreamed of attending a super bowl since he was a kid. he's taking his son. >> he was so excited when he got that, that will be such great memories for him and his son. >> yes. but how does cooks' family feel about that? next in "the pulse," a star from "frozen" is und arrest. > but first is it too cold to deliver beer? the outrage in the midwest.

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a delicious way to enjoy probiotics every day. with 20 years of devotion to gut health. activia. like no other. ♪ it's time to check "the pulse" and the lighter side of the big freeze. so forget about an ice cold beer in northwestern wisconsin today. distributors say they won't be making deliveries there because if the beer freezes, it's ruined and we don't want that. >> we do not. >> and the trucks are not heated. >> yeah, meanwhile some police officers in central illinois say they've caught the criminal responsible for this brutal weather. >> and they're not letting her go. >> elsa, the snow queen from "frozen" was taken into custody. i think you need to get the kids away from the tv screen. >> uh-huh. some kids are not happy. >> yeah, the police say that

until it warms up, all criminal activity has been canceled. >> canceled. stay inside, act right. too cold. >> too cold. too cold. all right. a new study out of atlanta could make you a believer in daydreaming. >> researchers at georgia tech say an occasional daydream can actually improve your mental health. the study found checking out for a little while is a great way to relieve stress at work. >> yeah, researchers found daydreaming can also make you feel refreshed and ready for your next challenge. letting your mind wander can help you work harder and make up for lost time. >> so let's take a moment, huh, as we prepare to take on this hump day, daydream about warm beaches. >> i feel like you're not daydreaming. you've just talking. cold beer. i'm daydreaming about that. >> look, just get your mind right. whatever it takes. good news for those of us who struggle to find time to hit the gym. >> do you struggle? >> yeah. >> you don't struggle to go to dunkin' donuts. >> to duncan kin' donuts

to get my dunkin' donuts. >> 15 minutes of an intense workout can do the job for most people and only need to do it three times a week. the so-called high intensity workouts can still increase muscle strength and help regulate insulin for people with type 2 diabetes. >> good to know and they say it takes only a couple weeks to begin seeing the positive effects. >> i do believe in this. >> yeah? >> the high intensity workout. >> yeah. do it. >> okay. >> push-up. oh, look at you, kenneth. you go, kenneth. you go, kenneth. >> okay, just read the next one. >> he's going to be wiped out. to the massive diamond going on display, he's hoping they go to video. auctioned in new york, the largest ever found in north america. >> yeah, it's a 552-carat yellow diamond worth millions. it's about the size of an egg and was unearthed at a mine in canada. >> can we listen to him breathe heavy? it's believed to be more than 3 billion years old. >> i also feel a billion years old after that workout. >> i bet you do. >> after that workout.

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let's get up and get going. this is abc 7 mornings. hi. good morning. it's wednesday, january 30th. thanks for joining us. >> yes. i'm matt keller in for reggie aqui this morning. you're never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. an important forecast, right. >> yes, especially this evening. the rain and thunderstorms are coming. but this morning, we've got fog to contend with. i have live doppler 7 down to street view. highway 4, discovery bay, antioch, the altamont pass into livermore and pleasanton. bass coe road. it's a pretty thick fog out there. that's about the only area right now. there is creeping up through the south bay. we'll keep an eye on you san jose. mid-40s to mid-50s this morning. pretty mild out there. by the afternoon hours, we're in the low to mid-60s and dry. we'll talk more about that

12-hour planner when the showers hit your neighborhood up next. sue? g-free.golden gate bridge, it's ihbound dwk the this moin here is where you will find roadwork. you can see the blinking lights and the crews working at the richmond-san rafael bridge in those left lanes or the fastrak lanes. we'll be following that to see -- yesterday was late in picking up. there was a monstrous backup. we'll be watching that. we have other accidents we'll update in a couple minutes. a mother and daughter together again a month after the young child was taken into federal custody at the border. >> amy hollyfield is live with what led you up to this emotional reyoourn. >> reporter: we're going to start your morning with emotional images. watch this reunion at sfo.

>> 23-year-old cindy flores was very emotional after being reunited with her 1-year-old daughter gretchen julia. they had been separated last month when the baby was taken from her father at the u.s./mexico border after the family escaped from honduras. the child was he held a at shelter in texas. the attorney for the family said the another tried to get her daughter back. but they say the federal government kept adding requirements for the child's release, including a payment of $4,000 to fly her to san francisco. the family's ordeal comes six months after the trump administration stopped its controversial practice of separating families at the border. >> as excited as we are to see cindy reunite with her baby, it's just one story of many. it's just one story of many. of thousands

>> flores has two other children. she's currently living in san francisco with a relative. she's seeking asylum to the united states. we did reach out to the department of homeland security for comment on this case. but we have not heard back. reporting live in san francisco, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. amy, thank you. very emotional. it's 4:30. if you're just joining us, let's get a quick update on weather and traffic. you're never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. >> thanks, matt. a few sprinkles trying to move into the sonoma and marin county coast. this morning is going to be relatively dry. there's a little bit of fog out there. that's about it. the main player, you can see it spinning offshore. it's still hours away from us. so we're looking at a dry embarcadero in san francisco, unlike yesterday morning. a little bit of fog,