from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm michelle

virginia, and maryland, they're expected to be hit the hardest. there is already over 8 inches of snow on the ground in parts of maryland where travel is hazardous. hundreds of crashes are reported, including one in which two people were killed. officials are asking motorists to take it easy.

>> hopefully by morning. if we get a couple of more inch, i'll stay home. >> more than 80 million people are affected. parts of central pennsylvania already have 9 inches of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. public schools in philadelphia, new york, and the district of columbia are closed today. the nation's capitol could see up to 8 inches of snow depending on the temperature. the national weather service says travel will be difficult if not impossible later today in cities like new york and philadelphia. more than 3,200 flights are canceled today, most to and from new york city, philadelphia, and boston. most airlines are offering travel waivers. amtrak is offering a modified schedule. with wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour possible, widespread power outages are

expected. four nor'easters in three weeks is unusual but not unheard of. >> i think everyone's ready for spring and ready for the snow to melt and to be outside. >> and that may take a day or two, anne-marie. it's hard to predict snowfall accumulations with the warm air and surfaces, but still, anne-marie, it seems like a mid-winter storm. back you do. >> indeed. eric fisher of our boston station wbz is following the severe weather on both coasts. >> whell, it is the first full day of spring, but it is a mess out there stretching from the southern atlantic. this is going to bring a thump of heavy know along the 95 corridor throughout the day to early thursday morning before it moves out. it looks like the full brunt will be felt in western maryland

to around new york city. a mixture of ice last night and snow moving in today. meanwhile on the west coast, another major storm system, flash flood watches out in southern california, this one a particularly dangerous storm. 5 to 10 inches of rain in the foothill. especially in recent burn areas, mudslides and debris flows look very likely. we call this the pineapple express. it will be moving into southern and central california through thursday, also significant mountain snow. snow levels are pretty high up around 89,000 feet. locally 3 to 5 feet of additional snow coming down through the sierras. i'm meteorologist eric fisher for cbs news. well, authorities in southern california have ordered more than 30,000 people to evacuate because of the storm. at particular risk are

neighborhoods facing the threat of flooding that were burned bare by a wildfire. mudslides in january destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and killed at least 21 nikki battis. thank you so much, nikki. a former playboy model who said she had an affair with donald trump in 2006 and 2007 wants to tell herstory. carol mcdougall has filed a lawsuit. three months before the election, mcdougall sold her rights to media incorporated for 150,0$150,00 $150,000. ahead on "cbs this morning" we'll talk to karen mcdougal's current attorney about what she

hopes to accomplish with this suit. while the president is taking heat this morning following a phone call with vladimir putin, mr. trump spoke with putin yesterday and cong t congratulated him on getting elected. the president's own advisers warned him not to congratulate putin. that's according to the "washington post." at least two senior republicans mitch mcconnell and john mccain say the president made a bad choice. it's not clear whether a 17-year-old gunman who opened fire in a high school in maryland took his own life or was killed by an officer who con fronted him. austin rollins had some type of relationship with one of the victims. he was confronted within a minute by a school resource officer blaine gaskill who's

being congratulated. cambridge analytica, a british consulting firm that worked with the trump campaign facebook held a crisis meeting yesterday, but cbs news has learned neither of its top executives attended. a design change on the bridge that collapsed and killed six people last week at florida international university reportedly put it behind schedule and millions over budget. documents obtained by the "associated press" showed that in 2016 the florida transportation advise thad one of the bridge's main support structures be moved 11 feet. videos of the collapse showed

the individubridge started crum coming up on the "morning news" now, disturbing details. the brother of the alleged florida shooter reportedly started talking about a fan club. and obesity, how swallowing can affect your taste buds. this is the "cbs morning news." no way! i'll be darned. the complete air wick essential oils collection. pepsoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate

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wreck isly. two students were arrested on weapons charges and a deputy was suspended for sleeping on the job. two students were arrested for bringing knives to a school where 17 people were killed by a gunman last month. the deputy was caught by a student monday night sleeping in his patrol car. the "miami herald" reports the prosecutor says a brother of the alleged gunman talked about setting up a fan club for the shooter. he was arrested monday for trespassing. during a bond hearing, they say cruz was overheard talking about the popularity of his brother he "chicago tribune"

reports on a study that found obesity robs the tongue of taste buds in mice. cornell university research fed mice a high fat diet that caused a rapid weight gain. they have 25% fewer taste buds than lean mice. they say it could lead to new ways to treat obesity. still ahead, a peek at the future of retail. why robots are roaming the aisles of walmart. and the wolf huffed and puffed...

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there'that only uses 100% american oranges.and simply orange and tropicana ship in juice from overseas. only florida's natural grows all of our oranges in florida. great taste. naturally. here's look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ walmart is turning to robots to scan store aisles and see what items he can restock. the 6-foot robots are equipped with lights, cameras, and radar

sensors. scan shelves for empty spots and check price tags. walmart said they're being tested in 50 stores. on the "cbs moneywatch," hackers may have hit orbitz and airlines suspend hit cargo service. diane king hall is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. another interest rate hike is expected. here on wall street stocks finished higher as retailers led by amazon, and others have recovered losses. the dow jones industrial average rallied 116 points, the s&p 500 rallied 4 points, the nasdaq gained 3 points. the personal information of customers who made purchases online between january 1st in 2016 and january 2nd of 2017

were potentially skboesd. about 800,000 payment cards are affected. san francisco became the largest u.s. city to ban the sale of fur. the city board of supervisors yunanimously voted for the ban which takes place january 1st. it applies to clothing and access riis involving real fur. san francisco retailers say it will cost some people the ability to make a living. animal rights activists applauded the move. san francisco is named the patron state of rights of animals. >> united is halting its pets reservations program while it reviews the programs. passengers can still take small pets on board with them. united has mishandled several pets lately including a german shepherd mistakenly shipped to japan and another dog was put on

a wrong plane and a french bulldog died after a flight attendant ordered it be put in a cargo bin. still to come, awarding knighthood at buckingham palace. entrusting your heart to entresto may help. entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital compared to a leading heart failure medicine. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. and help make more tomorrows possible.

entresto, for heart failure. developments overnight. a suspected serial bomber in texas is dead... more from the scene. plus: a bay area father murdered while celebrating his birthday. how the attempted carjacking... turned deadly. and new fallout in the facebook data scandal. this morning... the federal investigation.

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in san antonio, officials hope that they may provide new leads in the investigation. medicine is getting closer

to the day when men will have the option of showed a smau pill was given safely. there was no change in mood or sexual function at the end of the month. >> sex drive, maintaining muscle, all of those important characteristics are maintained by the hormone that we're giving the men. >> reporter: but will it work as birth control. normally the male pill works by blocking those brain hormones which lowers testosterone levels

and is expected the shut down sperm production. >> we knee we need to block sperm production and the plan is to bring it down to low levels. one woman writing let's let our men take one for the team for once and one man tweeted said not sure relying on us boys remembering to take it is such a good idea. >> dr. painch said the next step is to see if the pill not only lowers testosterone but it's effective enough. though it won't be hitting the market any time soon, the science has arrived to imagine a future where oral contraception is an option for both women and men. dr. jon lapook, cbs news, new york. coming up on "cbs this morning," bipartisan leaders from the senate intelligence committee are urging stronger election security. we'll talk with member james

lankford. plus dr. tara narula looks at the side effects of common medications. and in a more perfect union, what brought together an army veteran and a nashville musician. that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

i'm michelle griego. and i'm kenny choi. time is 4-- here's neda iranpour with a check of weather. good morning, it is wednesday, march 21st. this is the beautiful bay bridge there. i'm michelle griego. it's wednesday, "hump day."

>> yes. >> we are almost there. >> the weekend is almost here. good morning. i'm kenny choi. namaste. i took a yoga class today. it reminds, see the light in me. i see the light in you. nice way to start the day. >> we're not going to see much light today. it's still dark. even when the sun comes up, we can still feel it in our hearts, kenny. thank you. you can see the raindrops coming down the bottom corner of the screen. there's a little ponding so that's where the rain is showing. here's the headlines today. scattered morning showers, afternoon thunderstorms and hail. heaviest rain will arrive tonight. so you think it's coming down good now? just you wait. tonight and early tomorrow morning, it's on. the atmospheric river will officially arrive with a lot of rainfall ahead. right