this is more video from the bomb cyclone blizzard as it slammed colorado. south metro firefighters had to go out in those conditions. crews had to clear the water supply near one home after a gas line was cut. they turned on the hydrant to make sure the fumes didn't cause an explosion. dealing with a lot out there. a judge has placed a gag order on proceedings at r. kelly's child support battle. the singer attended a hearing yesterday in chicago. >> his publicist said kelly can't make the payments of $20,000 a month to his ex-wife because he's not working. as he left court kelly addressed what his lawyer called accusations and lies about the singer. >> i'm not dealing with rumors. >> kelly is back in court next week.

he has a hearing on his sexual abuse case. he was indicted last month on ten counts of abusing four alleged victims. and let's offer congratulations to the iditarod sled dog champion. >> pete kaiser finished the race winning the 2019 iditarod. he finished the 1,000-mile race, in 9 days, 12 hours 39 minutes and 6 seconds, and his margin of victory just 12 minutes. his first iditarod win in ten attempts. amazing. coming up, plans for st. paddy's day? we've got you covered. >> upping your brunch game on st. patrick's day. >> upping your brunch on st. patrick's day. nch on st. paddy's day.

♪ ♪ welcome back. we're already halfway through march and that, of course, means st. patrick's day. you don't need the luck of the irish to create a special st. paddy's day spread. the chief entertaining officer, tim laird, he's here with more. good morning, to you, tim.

>> good morning. >> great to meet you. >> you can feed me and have lots of drinks. tim is here, everybody. >> yeah, we have a lot of fun. since st. patrick's day is on the weekend this year, i thought what about an irish-themed brunch. that's what we want to do. of course, you can do it anytime. it doesn't have to be on st. patrick's day. i have a fun-themed idea. very easy. i have about three ounces of freshly brewed coffee here, and to that about half an ounce of simple syrup or a sugar cube to mix in there, and you have to have irish whisky, and that's going to make our irish coffee and that goes in, about an ounce and a half of our little sling. no, you don't. it's about that much. here's another secret to irish coffee. you want a lightly whipped cream. you don't want it really heavy because you just wan

think mimosas, and i have an irish mimosa, and it's what i call my irish gold. it's simply four ounces of orange juice and a little bit of that whiskey, an ounce to ounce half and top it with the champaign. it's a really nice kind of take on a mimosa, a little orange peel as a garnish. here is my irish salmon. basically, it's based off drink the old fagsed. you want to make a cure. it started with salt and of course the old fashioned has sugar in there, so i z addest o orange. the whiskey and a couple dashes of bitters. processor.

take the salmon, spread it on top all over. nice glaze. in the refrigerator 24-48 hours and you have a beautiful salmon. that is delicious on cucumbers, toast, maybe a bagel, or a poached egg and that makes lunch special. >> those are great ideas. i see down here, i have been eyeing this one right here as well. >> this is delicious. this is a little twist on potatoes and eggs. i call this my crispy smashed potatoes. the eggs this time is the salmon, which adds a little saltiness, which is perfect for that potato. to get the smashed portion, you cook the small potatoes, and then you put them between two parchment papers and ye good sms then it goes back into the oven, and you bake it and it becomes crispy. you top it with sour cream and salmon eggs.

>> what is the one thing that makes a good st. patrick's day brunch? >> plenty of food and lots of good friends and make sure you are a responsible party host, too, and have alcohol-free options at your party and make sure everybody has fun. >> that is fun. i can't let you go without shouting out the cookbook. what are some of the best recipes in there to look for when you get that? >> so many recipes in there. a lot of thing from the kentucky derby, because my co-author is a special chef at the kentucky derby. we have a lot of fun stories, recipes and images. >> so this is quite a feast. thank you for just showing off what we can do for st. patrick's day. a lot of festive ideas for brunch. check out our website, wnnfans for all the recipes for st. patrick's day. check out his book, "the bourbon country cookbook.

thank you for joining us. have a great st. patrick's day. you are watching "world news now." finish the job on't because they don't relieve nasal congestion. flonase sensimist is different. it relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. it's more complete allergy relief. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist helps block six key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. and six is greater than one. flonase sensimist.

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i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. ♪ >> "this happened" on th thsdng we will start with the british musician that decided to take her talents on high -- up high, that is. up 16,000 feet in the himalayas to break a guinness word record. she was approached by music enthusiast that suggested a high altitude concert, and a crew got the piano up there, she did not have to carry it up there herself. >> good thing. >> this is all for a good cause, to raise funds for cystic fibrosis. >> pretty impressive. >> she didn't need an oxygen mask up there? >> she's looking for more extreme piano sounds. >> more than an hour up there,

they said frigid temps, but it didn't look too cold. tickling the ivories. >> tickling the ivories. that's good. that's good. also way up high off a scottish mountain, a guy parachutes off. >> off a perfectly good mountain, he just -- >> 1200 feet up. yep. he scaled it. it's an iconic scottish mountain and they call it old man, and he scaled it all the way up with his skis and a parachute attached. great views. >> i love that. i need that on a big i-max type of screen. >> what, these views? >> there's a ride at disney world, disney also the parent company -- >> just to plug that in. >> disney also owned by the parent company. >> and it also reminds me of "frozen." walt disney, the parent company of abc. >> it's called "sorin'" that ride at disney. it's cool, one of my favorites. looks like a scene from that. >> look at this.

a unicyclist doing the most. this portland youtuber, a unicyclist here, somebody in a shark costume playing -- do you recognize that? >> baby shark, doo, doo, doo -- >> there you go. that is pretty cool, right? >> that is pretty cool. ♪ >> yeah, we like that. then an eagle. he helped a golfer get a hole in one. >> let's see it. >> look at that. it was a decent shot on the golf course, but that eagle helped it be a hole in one. the golfer was playing his first round in the vancouver area course, and the eagle landed and started messing around with his ball, and the video shows the eagle dropping the ball in the hole. >> thank you for the assist. the eagle getting a birdie? >> the eagle getting a

this morning on "world news now," passengers left in limbo after the u.s. finally grounds the boeing max jets. president trump ordered the emergency grounding, impacting flights as they were ready to take off. the u.s. follows countries around the world have grounded the planes due to similarities between two recent deadly crashes. what took the u.s. so long to act? new developments in the college admissions scandal. actress lori loughlin is out on $1 million bond after being arrested for allegedly paying to get her daughter into a top school. what will happen to her daughter and other students connected to the alleged fraud? and the mother-to-be calls her husband to let him know she's going into labor, an rushes to get to her, but then runs out of gas. you won't believe how this baby came into the world. plus, an irrational day to celebrate. pi day. you don't need to be a

mathematician to get free food like pies and pizzas. it's thursday, 3.14. announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> that's march 14th, for anyone who is a little confused. you get it, pi day is 3.14. >> i think they know. >> you think? >> i'm sure they get it. >> and somebody at home was like, huh? >> and they want you to finish it. there's plenty of time later on this half hour. we begin with headaches for airline passengers supposed to fly on the boeing max jets. the government issued warnings days after one was involved in a deadly crash in africa. >> the three u.s. carriers which fly boeing max 8s and 9s are rebooking passengers. this live map shows the planes in the air above the u.s. right now. this shows the 737 max jets in the air over north america. you see there are only three there. abc's david kerley has more.

>> reporter: this southwest 737 max 8 jet flying into d.c.onof the rest of the world. >> we are going to issue an emergency order to ground all flights of the 737 max 8 and the 737 max 9 for safety of the american people and all people is our paramount concern. >> reporter: immediately three u.s. airlines told to stop flying their 737 maxs. >> we got a call, you need to contact them. >> run to the gate. >> reporter: this max 8, towed from the gate and parked. 1 of 72 idled. the federal government was under public pressure for days having watched china, europe and canada ground aircraft. the reason? similarities between sunday's crash in ethiopia that killed 157, and the lion air crash in indonesia, less than five months earlier.

both flights with the nose moving erratically up and down right after takeoff. a refinement of tracking data of satellites according to the faa, and evidence from this debris field in ethiopia convinced the agency there's enough similarities in these flights to ground the fleet. >> does it mean the crashes are related? >> it doesn't mean the crashes are related, but close enough to say stop flying these airplanes until we get the black boxes ready. >> reporter: the two black boxes found two days ago are damaged. the delay in extracting data, part of the reason for the u.s. grounding, but the boxes will be flown to france. the data could confirm if the crashes are related and whether the fastest selling jetliner ever has a problem. already boeing is working a software fix for one of the contributing factors of the lion air crash, and while there has been no documented cases of the erratic behavior here in the

u.s.. all 370 of the jet liner, sitting on the ground. passengers landing, reacting to the news. >> the pilot came on and he said, the president just said all flights are grounded and we will return to the gate, so not much we can do, i'm afraid. >> reporter: this grounding will result in cancellations. american airlines suggesting it may have to cancel up to 85 flights a day, southwest flies even more of these aircraft and they have to cancel even more flights. david kerley, abc news, reagan national airport. >> our thanks to david kerley. he has been on top of this story all week long. and we can do math based on conservative estimates about the flights being canceled. as david indicated, american and southwest fly 737 max 8s, and united flies larger versions called the max 9. >> there are at least 250 max flights every day between the three airlines. a typical max 8 jet has about 172 seats. that means around 43,000 passengers here in the u.s. were effected by the grounding every

day. the carriers are downplaying the impact saying spare planes and rebooking of passengers should minimize the problem. >> an unsettling situation, and i'm sure a lot of people are relieved the max planes have been grounded, but obviously now the lingering impact. >> right. and as we wait to find out what happened in ethiopia, a lot of folks are saying, thank goodness the federal government stepped in here and brought relief. now to the latest on the multimillion college admission scandal. >> two celebrities appeared in court. actress lori loughlin went home after being released on bond. >> there was drama with the actress, felicity huffman. sources say federal agents drew guns during her arrest. >> ufc's former water polo coach decked out in the schools colors captured in hawaii, and he is among dozens captured in the scheme.a briearance for her

rolen e college bribery scream. the actress who played a role model on "full house" allegedly shelled out $500,000 to singer along with her fashion designer husband to get their daughters into usc. tmz reports her daughter olivia was on a usc trustee's yacht when the scandal broke. loughlin was arrested a day after dozens of wealthy parents were taken into custody, including felicity huffman who was arrested by agents with guns drawn and cuffed. the star of "desperate housewives" allegedly paid $15,000 to rick singer to bribe a proctor who would change her daughter's test answers. colleges and companies are distancing themselves from employees accused of paying bribes or taking them. on wednesday, the university of texas fired the men's tennis coach.

a silicon valley hedge fund replaced itsan international la in new york. prosecutors say the scheme's master mind worked with dozens of parents to gain the system. >> for every student admitted through fraud, an honest and genuinely talented student was rejected. >> reporter: on usc's campus, students say they feel cheated. >> i feel for people like us, who actually strive hard day and night to just come here and learn -- >> school named by prosecutors are coming up with ways to deal with the students affected by the fraud. >> the university of southern california plans to do a case by case review of current students. it will make appropriate decisions. any applicant connected to the scheme will be denied admission, ucla says students could face disciplinary action, including admission. prosecutors are not ruling out additional charges. meanting dangerous and potentially deadly whiteout conditions across the u.s.

on the radar, you can see how big the system is. >> so far colorado is taking the hardest hit due to a sudden drop in pressure that meteorologists call a bomb cyclone. a state trooper was killed by a car traveling in near zero visibility. airports and major interstates are closed. the national guard troops are helping to rescue drivers stranded in their cars. >> tornado-force winds tore across new mexico and northern texas. look at that. such power. that big rig blew right over. accuweather's meteorologist paul williams joins us with what's ahead today. paul, good morning. >> good morning, janai, kenneth. the strong winds a problem but this time in the midwest, and we are looking at 60-70-mile-per-hour winds from nebraska and colorado as well as kansas. 80-mile-per-hour winds in some areas, and that's in the ohio valley region as well, and then another round of storms in indianapolis, cincinnati, jackson, mississippi. these thunderstorms will accompany the front that will

push through quickly. then there is the blizzard. literally, rapid city, cheyenne, denver causing problems along 90, i-80, i-25 and i-70 having difficulties. some roofs could collapse from the weight of all the snow. janai, kenneth? >> thanks to paul. paul manafort is facing a new prison sentence and new charges. manafort was slapped with an additional 3 1/2 years behind bars yesterday for money laundering and obstruction of justice, and that sentence is on top of the four years manafort received in a separate case last week. right after the additional sentence was announced, new york state prosecutors unveiled charges against manafort for falsifying loan applications. he cannot be pardoned if convicted on those counts. a vote is set for today. the white house said no to a potential republican-led deal allowing the declaration to hold in return for trump signing a

second bill restricting the power in the future. passage of the current bill is expected to lead to the president's first veto. also in washington, the conspiracy the first lady has a body double is sparking anger from president trump. the bogus claims emerged again, when the president and first lady visited alabama. the body double chatter made it to a number of media outlets. the president tweeted about it calling it fake news for supposedly altering the pictures. >> the president tweeted about it -- are you baiting me? we are talking about this? the president tweeted about it, and talking about the previous administration, saying when they go low, we go high. and this president is like, when they go low i will tweet about this. i will tweet about this. >> i will meet you there and we will continue to have this conversation. >> we will fight about this.

>> i mean, these pictures, i got a kick out of this over the weekend. those conspiracy theorists out there, they get to work and you are like, well. >> no, she was real. a pilot made a long delay a lot easier for passengers by reaching into his own pocket. >> mesa airlines flight from tulsa to houston was stuck on the ground two and a half hours monday due to bad weather. the plane's captain decided to make it more palettable by buying hamburgers for all the passengers. took a play from the white house there. the food from five guys prompts one passenger to tweet, good people and customer service do still exist. >> that would help a delay? >> it would. >> what about the vegans? coming up, the expectant mom home alone when the big moment comes. she was on the phone but wait until you hear what was happening on his end. first, the urgent manhunt for a suspect that escaped from police custody not once, but twice. the second time he did it in

handcuffs, behind the wheel of a police cruiser. you are watching "world news now." ce cruiser. you are watching "world news now." wheel of a police cruiser. you are watching "world news now."

starting a business means i have to be well rested, every night of the month. always overnight pads have up to a 2x larger back for up to 10 hours of protection. it catches leaks, so you can catch zzzzs. because my morning starts before morning starts. always in southern california, in southern california, man's best friend got a big save from man when jose guzman stunned firefighters by racing

into this burning home to rescue his dog. he found the dog hiding in a bathroom. it was the only room of the building that had not been consumed by flames. he unhooked her and ran out on the street. both suffered minor burns but are expected to be okay. >> that's love. moving on to a desperate search of survivors in a building collapse in nigeria. crews and volunteers worked through the night in ruins of what was a three-story building. so far, at least eight people did not survive. >> nearly 40 others have been pulled from the rubble alive. officials say a school with up to 100 students was operating illegally on the building's top two floors. structure was already marked for demolition. here at home, an urgent manhunt is under way in oklahoma for a dangerous fugitive who escaped from police custody twice. >> that suspect is having quite the busy week. first escaping from prison and getting caught and then stealing a police car while still in handcuffs. here is abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: the desperate

search for this man, travis lee davis who allegedly broke free from custody twice and in two separate states in one week. police in oklahoma say davis was handcuffed behind his back when he somehow took the police cruiser and drove it for more than a mile before crashing. this saga began on monday when officials discovered dallas broke out nearly a day and a half earlier, allegedly climbing into a ceiling and escaping through a maintenance hole. a female driver in rural oklahoma called 911 claiming she had been kidnapped and forced to drive at gunpoint. davis was soon arrested, but managed to escape in that cruiser. davis was being held in the missouri jail on charges of kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and domestic assault and police say they consider him to be very dangerous. linsey davis, abc news, new york. coming up in our next half hour, untold numbers of people plunged into social media

prehistoric times. what we're learning about the great outage that knocked facebook, instagram and what's app offline. first, a stork makes an unexpected house call and throws an entire household into turmoil. that's next on "world news now."

♪ this is quite an interruption, you could say, on one woman's line while she was home, alone n new jersey and going into labor. >> that is half of it. a whole will ganss is here to fill in the blanks on this tail. >> yeah, all of me, ready to tell you all of this story. you would think a mother going into labor while home alone would be the most dramatic part of the story, right? well, not quite, you guys. >> i hear a baby crying. i was, like, what the heck? >> when you hear of how he met his newborn son, you might be saying what the heck. his wife, home alone when she went into labor.

>> the pains intensified so i was on the phone with my husband and i said i think you need to come and take me to the doctor. >> first she was really calm, then she started to scream and the phone hangs up. when the phone hangs up, i already knew, let me dial 911. >> as the emt's made their way to the couples apartment, dad did, too. or at least he tried. >> i went down the wrong highway. >> plot twist. that's not all. >> i turn around. by the time i get to the regular highway, i run out of gas. >> then dad takes off running. and luckily a good samaritan sees him and offers help. >> the guy said, hey, man, are you okay? i am, like, no, i ran out of gas, and my wife is having a baby. >> meanwhile back at the apartment, police and ems arriving to a locked door, and she was in too much pain to get up and let them in herself. emergency crews knocking down

the door to find mom and her new babe, malachi, on the floor, next to the bed. >> a group of officers and emt's. it worked out very well. >> mom, baby malachi and, yes, even dad doing very well. >> let me go. i better get there now. >> michael said he was so flustered that day he never got the name of the stranger that helped him get home, but he hopes that man will come forward so he can thank him properly. >> can you imagine him running down the road to get there -- >> that's like a typical dad thing to happen. >> and also typical thing, mom delivering her own baby. moms rule the world. >> superheroes. >> they really are. that was incredible. happiness and health as well. yes. >> what was your favorite part of that story? >> i love how the mom is listening to the dad talk and she is laughing herself. it must be typical, he forgot to fill up with gas. >> yeah. >> of course. >> love that. coming upfree stuff on pi

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♪ it's time for "the mix." look at this spread. >> omg. >> look at these amazing pies to celebrate pi day, 3.14. a shout-out to our friends at pd pies for dropping these by. there are a bunch of deals you can get today. not just on pies, but pizza's, too, right, because pizza pie -- >> oh. >> it's a type of pie, y'all. >> it is. >> speaking of -- >> bring on the pizzas. >> all right >> open the pies here. >> okay. >> mushrooms -- you can get deals at stop and shop all day, and some pies are on sale for $3.14.

b.j.'s restaurant, california pizza kitchen. marie calendar's. fresh market. what is in that one? >> pepperoni. >> please give me a slice. >> sure. >> i have my hands on it. >> thank you very much. >> and so for pi day, it's like that number -- one time i took time to memorize -- >> what is it. go. >> 3.14159. >> you know the numbers, but what do they mean? >> i don't know that. >> it is the 16th letter in the greek alphabet. it's a it's the ratio of a circle circumference to its diameter. and it really helps find the circumference area of a circle, and a mathematician uses pi for faster calculations. >> who gave you this information? >> the university of south carolina, home of the gamecocks. the real usc. >> were they part of that scandal?

>> having trouble right now. >> all the shade. all the shade. >> should we move on? do you feel guilty about eating that? >> a little because i just looked at the next story. americans feel guilty about almost one-third of the food they eat. survey of 2,000 americans, 29% say they feel guilty, on average, about the food they put into their bodies. dinner, that is the most guilt-producing meal of the day. >> really? >> 36%. so the top guilt food, what was the number one? >> pizza? >> no. ice cream. chocolate, candy, cookies and then potato chips. >> oh, my gosh. >> you should feel guilty. >> i understand. how about a little boy that is not guilty, and he thinks it's hilarious he did a crazy face for school pictures. look at little andrew. yep. mom gets that. she said she let out a blood-curdling scream that went throughout the house. what is this? >> they probably told him to solve a pi equation.

>> he said it was hi

this morning on "world news now," the monster storm, a bomb cyclone blasting parts of the central u.s. hurricane-force winds blowing a semitruck off the highway. heavy snow slamming airports, forcing flights to be canceled. the new models of boeing 737 max 8 and 9 planes were grounded in the u.s., days after other countries grounded planes. some of those planes were in the air when president trump announced the emergency grounding. and new this half hour, alex trebek returning to the "jeopardy" set. >> he's back on the job for the first time since announcing his battle with pancreatic cancer. his message to everyone, straight ahead. a dark day tr social media. facebook and instagram failed to load for people across the world. humans forced to speak to one another in person or worse.

print out photos instead of sharing them. it's thursday, march 14th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." it was dark ages. facebook, instagram -- nobody slid into my dms. >> how do you know what your friends had for dinner. >> i quadruple tapped a photo on instagram. a double tap, oh, it didn't go through. i really like this. i posted something on facebook. >> nobody saw your outfit of the day. we will get to all of that heartbreak. we begin with the vicious late winter storm that you can see on the radar there that is hammering the central u.s. and moving east. >> in colorado higher elevations picked up 20 inches of new snow in less than a day. blinding whiteout conditions knocked out power and shut down major interstates, which won't reopen until later today.

all runways at denver airport closed. grounding a thousand flights so far. >> no word on when air travel can resume. >> this national weather service staffer in south dakota did his best trying to launch a data collection balloon. it only rose half the distance before blowing apart. we have the details from outside denver. >> reporter: a winter weather explosion putting a bullseye on the center of the country, and whiteout conditions from colorado and kansas to the dakotas. >> it's about noon and we are just east of denver and the blizzard conditions have definitely kicked in. visibility here is virtually zero. >> reporter: in colorado parts of major interstate 70 and 25 clogged by crashes are shut down. >> reporter: there are dozens if not hundreds of cars stranded here on i-70, and the wind gusts, they are unbelievable. >> reporter: it's all thanks to a rare winter storm with a technical term, a bomb cyclone. they call this a bomb cyclone because the pressure dropped so

quickly and the lower the pressure the stronger the storm. here at the airport we are seeing gusts of 80 miles an hour. >> reporter: that forced denver to shut down all six runways, 1300 flights canceled and hundreds are stranded with little to do but sleep and play cards. >> i grew up in new orleans, and i have seen a hurricane but this is a snowicane. >> reporter: in texas, winds gusting to 70 miles per hour plus -- >> oh, my god. >> reporter: strong enough to flip a semi, ripping a roof off a warehouse and tossing airplanes like toys. ripping a roof off this home, injuring a person inside. in new mexico, two reported tornadoes, five people injured in a twister near rozwell and near logan, a remarkable sight, powerful winds knocking 20 train cars off the trestle. no one was injured. they have now declared a state of emergency here in colorado. you can see how bad conditions are. on this highway, these cars have

been stranded here for a long time. they are not going anywhere fast. we have now learned a colorado state trooper who was responding to one of the many accidents was hit by another car and killed. abc news, denver. >> sad news there. thanks to clayton there. and bomb cyclone sounds horrible. >> he had to have those goggles on. >> right. i'm glad he got his hat back. >> yeah. >> and a snowicane, i have now heard that term. i didn't think i would. >> accuweather's paul williams with what we can expect. paul, good morning. >> good morning, janai, kenneth. with this monster of a storm that continues to deepen and get stronger, on the backside of it watching out for windy and thrsrms and e rmt a cce flash flooding running rampant throughout the ohio valley region. talking about the snow. 12 to 18 inches of snow from rapid ci towards fargo, at least a foot

of snow and we could see 26 inches in some areas from this system as it strengthens. when it tracks toward the northeast, we are going to have difficulty traveling and blizzard conditions. then the winds will go rampantly crazy throughout the center of the country with a storm max of at least 80 miles per hour winds. kenneth? janai? >> thanks to paul. the investigation of the boeing jet crash in ethiopia is picking up speed. now that the black boxes have been flown to france, the data from the flight recorders will be read there. >> the head of the faa said the stall of the black boxes contributed to the delay in ordering all boeing max aircraft grounded. we have the report. >> reporter: after days of mounting public pressure, the faa grounding boeing max 8 and 9 aircraft after mexico and china grounded their fleets. >> they have to be grounded until further notice.

pilots have been notified. all airlines have been notified. airlines are agreeing with this. >> reporter: the u.s., the latest country to pull the aircraft after the max 8 model was involved in two crashes in five months. according to the faa, tracking data from satellites and evidence from the debris field in ethiopia showing enough similarities between the flights convincing the agency to ground the fleet. >> it does not mean the two crashes are related, but it's close enough it's worth saying stop flying these airplanes until we get the black boxes read. >> reporter: southwest and united airlines among the last carriers to fly the jet. passengers landing reacting to the news. >> the pilot came on and said the president just said all flights are grounded and we're returning to the gate. not much we can do, i'm afraid. >> reporter: the faa saying the grounding will remain in effect pending the investigation from the black boxes from sunday's crash. that data, expected to confirm if the crashes are related. the delay in extracting data from the black boxes is part of the reason for the u.s.

grounding. those boxes will be examined in france as nearly all 370 of the brand-new aircraft are sitting on the ground. abc news, los angeles. >> as of yesterday, a decision has been made to not ground those jets because there was nothing connecting the crash in ethiopia with the one in indonesia last year. >> then canadian officials shared satellite data with the administration indicating a possible connection, and that's when faa and transportation department officials decided the planes should be grounded. the recommendation was delays or relayed to the president who announced the decision personally. new details in the college admission scandal reveal how investigators accidentally discovered the alleged scam. sources tell abc news fbi agents were looking into unrelated securities fraud when they received a tip that the then women's soccer coach at yale received a bribe. th one of the high profile suspects, lori loughlin is free

on $1 million bond but with work-related travel restrictions. she's due back in court in two weeks. in the meantime, there was tension when fellow actress, felicity huffman was arrested. agents drew their guns when she was picked up and don't know why. there's new information about the scam's alleged mastermind. william singer donated $150,000 to depaul university while his son attended the school. depaul says the donations don't appear to be related to the indictments. both usc and ucla are look into the status of students that may be affected to the scandal. usc says any applicant connected to the scheme will be denied admission. former democratic congressman beto o'rourke sure seems like he's ready to run for president. o'rourke begins a three-day visit to iowa today. in the meantime he's already reportedly confirmed his run for the democratic presidential nomination to a tv station in el paso, texas. abc news has not confirmed that report, and in a new "vanity fair" magazine interview o'rourke says he wants to run and thinks he would be good at it.

the smollett case and the hearing on the bogus attack on the actor. smollett's family wanted the chicago police to lead the investigation. the bureau couldn't head the probe because evidence didn't support claims of a hate crime. the "empire" actor faces 16 felony counts for the alleged hoax and the show returned to air last night. today marks the start of a special athletic event, the ice swimming world championship. >> 400 swimmers are in northern russia for the four-day event. it's like any other team swimming competition. >> yeah, just like any other, except they swim in a pool carved out of a lake, and water is less than 41 degrees, and the outside temperature is between 7 degrees above and 4 degrees below zero. no wet suits or extra layers are allowed and not allowed to dive into the pool. extreme shock of the cold could be dangerous, of course. >> how would you do with that? you are not good in the cold or with swimming, are you? >> i can swim.

coming up, the social media blackout. technical outages forced facebook to provide status updates on twitter. instagram is down. what's app is down. so many panicked users forced to figure out how to actually place calls and talk on their phones. >> and to people. in the skinny, colton and cassie open up about their journey to love on "the bachelor." you are watching "world news now." journey to love on "the bachelor." you are watching "world news now." get are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54. alex, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month.

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i didn't know what to do. i didn't know what to do. i was forced to go outside to show polaroids of my lunch to strangers walking by on the street. >> that was jimmy kimmel talking about the great social media blackout of 2019. >> perhaps millions of users impacted, plunging into social media withdrawal. here now is our own will g. who was among them. sk, not knowinwhat to do me.ju,m wiram and facebo

since i wasn't able to upload my instagram story to actual instagram all day, i'm uploading some of it right now, right here to "world news now" to let you know what is going on with #instagramblackout2019. >> don't worry, y'all, it's not just you. facebook, and instagram and what's up app down for most of the world for most of wednesday. the wide-spread outage affecting apps owned by facebook. what may be the serious outage in the company's history, and facebook tweeting at 1:49 p.m. eastern, we're aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing the facebook family of apps. we are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. although they have yet to say what the issue is, they say it's not causedy cyber attack. despite all the drama facebook shares relatively unaffected throughout the day. with so many social platforms down, some folks using the day to own joy the outdoors and

connect with their fellow humans. oh, man, i'm just kidding. could you imagine, though? instead people taking to twitter, still functioning just fine to scratch their social media itch. most of the top trends all day here in the u.s. related to the outage. some users taking it into their own hands to solve the issue. lindsay lohan tweeting this. while others making sure everyone else is okay. we can breathe easy, y'all. instagram is officially back to 100% functionality, but we are still waiting on facebook to be totally back up and running. did you see what cardi did, though? >> what? >> she put this up if we have it, telling people, hey, guys, i just dropped a big surprise on instagram. go check it out. >> oh, that's mean. >> it doesn't work. >> that's good. well, i'm glad i was a >> right. and, we already know i have trouble reaching out to folks and that really hurt me. >> people wouldn't slide into my dms. >> but we needed this.

we needed to know not only what it was like, but how we could deal with it and move on. >> no, i was just on youtube. >> yeah, twitter had a lot of jokes. >> pinterest. >> twitter has some jokes. >> that's hilarious. when we come back, the big headline from alex trebek. >> what joey fatone is showing to the world on ig. "the skinny" is next. joey fatone is showing to the world on ig. "the skinny" is next. what joey is doing. that's next. and an identical shirt using bounce. the bounce shirt has fewer wrinkles, less static, and more softness and freshness. for extra large or wrinkly loads, toss in three sheets. dermatologist tested bounce free and gentle is free of dyes and perfumes. bounce out wrinkles, bounce out static.

♪ skinny, just ♪ skinny, just give me the skinny ♪ it's time for "the skinny," starting with big news from one our dearest friends in our abc family, alex trebek. >> just after a week of announcing his cancer diagnose the host of "jeopardy" is back on the job. last night was his first night back after making this promise to his fans to beat the odds of surviving his stage 4 pancreatic cancer. >> with the help of your prayers also i plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease. truth told, i have to because under the terms of my contract i

have to host "jeopardy" for three more years, so help me -- >> the 70-year-old trebek has been hosting "jeopardy" for 35 seasons. >> good to see him back. and then we are hearing about the details about the latest pair made in reality tv heaven. >> a beaming colton underwood and cassie randolph gushed about their relationship on "gma" and spilled more than a few secrets. >> colton, the ninth bachelor to end the series without a proposal hinted he fell in love with cassie early on in the show. >> he said, quote, i didn't care how it ended, i just wanted to be with cassie. >> so is an engagement imminent? colton said, right now they are just enjoying dating and they'll see where it all goes. >> and where its going for their very first date in public is to see "frozen" on broadway. walt disney company is the parent company of abc news.

>> as for colton's virginity, colton said only he's glad they can keep that part of their relationship private, after we just promoted it and talked about it, the virgin bachelor, and they are just leaving us hanging. jack, what do you feel about that? >> i am so over them and on to the "bachelorette" already. colton and cassie are ancient history, as far as i'm concerned. get them out. >> they ain't loyal. next, to the headlines of a friend of "world news now," joey fatone. >> remember how much fun he had with will here, our own will ganss. >> will g. >> after his big reveal of the "masked singer," coming in fourth place on the whacky show as a giant nightmarish rabbit, joey decided to immortalize his alter ego on his leg. >> that is a with giant tattoo. he showed the image of the rabbit, which takes upmost of his calf there.

turning now to celebrity news across the pound, in a major shift for meghan markle -- >> he's celebrity as well. but across the pond. okay, there's more to it. the duchess of sus sex is believed to be eight months pregnant and apparently for all intents and purposes started her maternity leave. she will reportedly continue taking private meetings. >> she appeared at westminster abbey for a commonwealth service on monday and that may have been her last public outing until the baby arrives. #babywatch. back here at home, stars, they are just like us. >> nick jonas still married to priyanka chopra surprised his beloved with a brand-new car. >> that's not just any car. jonas gave her a $200,000 maybach. >> she could not let it go by without sharing it on social media. captioning, quote, when the hubby goes number one, the wifey

gets a maybach. how beautiful. >> we are assuming going numb one is his recent hit, "sucker" on the top 100 billboard. >> pretty ride. congrats. hit, "sucker" on the top 100 billboard. >> pretty ride. congrats. fie gets a may back. how beautiful. >> pretty ride. congrats. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ heartburn, ♪ indigestion, ♪ upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... girl, pepto ultra coating will treat your stomach right. ♪nausea, heartburn, ♪ indigestion, upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... try pepto with ultra coating.

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#1 stain and odor fighter, #1 trusted. it's got to be tide. ♪ ♪ they say there's an artist in all of us. >> except for me. >> except for him. this morning we are hearing about a 2-year-old girl whose inner artist has landed her in a spot inside a new york gallery. >> the pint-sized painter is selling some of her works for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. here is abc's will reeve. >> reporter: she may still be in diapers and doesn't know her abc's, but what this 2-year-old lacks in letters and words, she makes up for in colors and composition. >> the color palate, the way she chooses colors are exceptional. >> reporter: the little picasso was playing around with paint with her mom, lucille, having fun creating and exploring.

but lucille's friend noticed something. >> she created this piece and somehow got my attention. >> reporter: he, himself, an artist, brought her to durst in new york city and durst knew lola's art would sell. >> it's amazing. people have been calling us to buy her artwork to know how to get it and some stars have been coming in and buying her artwork. >> reporter: they say all art is subjective, but there's a market for lola's work. some paintings sell for 1,500. the art world says lola has real talent. >> is lola good for a 2-year-old or is lola good? >> lola is good and she's good for a 2-year-old. >> reporter: with all this hype i needed to see the artist in her element. can i hold this for you and you pick your colors? seeing the artist at work, it's my turn to try my hand on the canvas, by i have to get down to business here. did i sit on this brush? how's it look?

no, okay. come back when it's ready, please. thank you. it's not totally ready yet, and i don't think it's up to lola's standards, but here's what i got. cheers. oh, thank you. hopefully some of your talent rubbed off on to mine from that. >> a little "gma" shutout from our friend, will reeve there, and that little picasso, i mean -- >> yeah. >> how much money did we spend on that dead air just now? >> i have my kid's painting up on our refrigerator. >> but her's is selling for thousands. what is your kid doing? >> we'll get there. >> don't miss our updates on facebook at wwnfans.com. >> announcer: this is abc "world news now," informing insomniacs for two decades

making news in america this morning, state of emergency. the winter storm described as epic with blinding snow and hurricane-force winds. hundreds of drivers stranded. interstates closed. a major airport shut down. the national guard called in. where the storm is heading next. the emergency grounding. the fallout from that decision by the white house to ground boeing jets like the ones that crashed overseas. this morning, the impact across the country. how many travelers will be affected and new details on why it took so long to ground those planes. tip of the iceberg. the college admissions bribery scandal expanding this morning. the "full house" actress posting $1 million bond. her daughter spending time on a yacht belonging to a top