making news in america this morning, breaking right now, the massive storm lashing the south overnight. a tornado causing damage with major u.s. cities preparing for blizzard-like conditions as the system barrels down the eastern seaboard. plus, preparing for the worst. thousands of flights already canceled and unprecedented move in washington, d.c., shutting down the transit system and the government closing early. pilot arrested at the controls of a passenger plane accused of flying drunk. and fighting back with a club.

wrong woman to mess with. >> we do say good morning on this friday. the massive storm system expected to bring blizzard conditions to millions, well, it's taking shape right now and already causing some damage. >> let's get right to the radar. the storm stretching from the gulf of mexico into virginia. icy conditions, heavy rain across the south and at least one tornado. >> a twister touching down overnight in southern mississippi causing damage. reports of trees down and mobile homes destroyed. >> in the blizzard zone empty shelves, people rushing out for the essentials preparing for feet of snow and we have the details. >> reporter: this morning, one last mad dash to prepare for a potentially historic blizzard. outside a costco in virginia lines to get in and lines to check out as stores try to keep up with the demand.

kind of weather either the same scene at this trader joe's supermarket in the nation's capital. >> pick the next one. >> reporter: forcing customers to be limited to ten at a time and shelves of water are empty and show shovels disappearing just as fast. >> down to our last few of them which is like three or four. >> reporter: also preparing, the federal government, which announced it would be closing at noon today ahead of the epic winter storm. d.c.'s public transportation including rail and bus service will be closing later today too. >> we're seeing the -- everything line up for a major storm system affecting the eastern third of the country and affecting at least 50 million people. >> reporter: at reagan international airport de-icers on standby as all major airlines offer passengers waivers to rebook their flights. for those staying home like ryan williams in philadelphia, one last stop before the snow arrives.

grocery store but i mean honestly when we're being truthful the most important thing is wine and whiskey. >> reporter: abc news, new york. >> all right, so one of the many questions is how much snow can be expected and where is the storm right now. >> accuweather meteorologist justin povick tracking it all. good morning to you, justin. >> reena, kendis, thanks, good morning to you, as well. as we are following this storm all the moisture and heavy rain and even some severe weather that is tearing across the gulf coast states along interstate 10 and already had a history of tornadoes. and now we're starting to be more and more concerned about the wintry aspect. major ice storms into north carolina and then later on this evening into tonight, blizzard conditions developing, d.c., baltimore, philadelphia, this is one for the history books, whiteout conditions and look at our snowfall accumulation, one

more so toward d.c., baltimore and philadelphia. some areas here approaching two feet plus. and then we have the coastal impacts. these are rather significant. this will be the highest surf we have seen since sandy. beach erosion, coastal flooding, big-time concerns as we head through the weekend. reena, kendis, back to you. >> one for the history books. did you hear about this one, bright spot about all of this, for some in washington, d.c., for the first time in decades sledding is again allowed on capitol hill. still against the law but the capitol police have been told not to reinforce it. >> looks like a lot of fun. >> a hint of what they might be in for. take a look. this was after the blizzard of 1922. >> wow. 28 inches of snow fell. the greatest one-day snowfall ever for the city. check out the slide show at abcnews.com. well, there is breaking news in north korea. north korea is detaining an

said was a hostile act. auto frederick entered as student. no word on what that act was but north korea says he has ties to the u.s. government. the u.s. embassy in seoul is aware of the arrest. >> back at home the verbal smackdown is on between candidates donald trump and ted cruz campaigning in las vegas last night trump did address some issues resurrecting his promise to build a border wall and make mexico pay for it. but even a double-digit lead in the polls isn't stopping his attack saying cruz had his moment and he blew it. >> he's a very striking person, nobody likes him. take a look, he has republican senator, he doesn't have one endorsement from one senator, number one. country. >> now for the most part cruz is staying away from trash talk aiming his most critical words

and the obama administration, as well, but he is firing back at trump suggesting to abc's george stephanopoulos that the front-runner's priorities are completely misplaced. >> i would suggest that the next commander in chief instead of living or dying by the daily polls and latest twitter storm should focus on identifying our enemies, listening to the expert advice of generals and admirals and national security experts and doing whatever is necessary to keep this country safe. >> well, cruz is also explaining to george why he's far more qualified than trump to be president. that's coming up later today on "good morning america." for the democrats hillary clinton is getting an endorsement from a pop star. demi lovato joined her on stage last night. she performed the song "confident" before introducing her. bernie sanders leads clinton by 8 points in iowa and turned up the heat on sanders during an appearance on cnn.

people are ready to elect a socialist as president of the united states? >> well, let me say this, again, it's up to the voters. i know a number of democrats, people who i highly respect are concerned and are expressing that concern to me, to journalists and others. >> bernie sanders is remaining confident. during a speech in new hampshire sanders touched on the new poll telling the crowd that, quote, we're looking at one of the great political upsets in modern history. well, still ahead a child seat maker recalling a popular product. and under arrest, the pilot accused of flying a passenger plane while drunk. >> that's going viral for the wrong reasons. a doctor caught on camera fighting with an uber driver. the hospital she works for

hey, it's not that unusual to see alligators roaming around florida's backyards but one family says a giant crocodile took up temporary residence in their swimming pool. the nearly eight-foot-long croc saunter aed ed away. the federal government is now responding to the water crisis in flint. the epa says it will take over lead sampling in the city and make the results public and the regional epa director who oversaw flint has resigned. meanwhile, officials in michigan say they still aren't sure whether the contaminated water is linked to a sudden increase in the number of legion f of legionnaires' disease. safety officials are pushing for the limit of alcohol to be

about one drink for a woman and two for men. they say impairment begins well before the current level of 0.08. thousands of child care seats, child car seats are being recalled because of a safety hazard. britax is recalling more than 71,000 seats because the carrying handles can break. do take note it covers the b safe 35 and 35 elite and 35 travel system made between october 2014 and july of last year. we do have full details on our website, abcnews.com. the best jobs in america were ranked and you better polish off your computer skills. engage many manager, has a nice $125,000 base salary. the third on the list is solutions architect, number two is tax manager and according to

right now is data scientist. >> astronaut was not included on the list apparently among others. when we come back, talk about a close call. a police officer taking quick action avoiding a swerving big rig. >> and a surprise on the slopes

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storm. a look down pennsylvania avenue. this picture will look a lot different later tonight. blizzard-like conditions are expected there. the nation's capital already reeling from wednesday night's mild snowstorm is taking every measure to get ready. >> yes, schools out today in washington and some of its suburbs. the metro subway system is not going to be running this weekend at all and federal offices are shutting down today at noon. taking a look at the morning commute, icy all the way from the ohio valley to the mid-atlantic seaboard. drivers likely to find snow in the western mountains and the sierra. rain for the rest of california. maybe even as far south as l.a. the roads may be flooded in the deep south. >> this is where the trouble is. memphis, atlanta, miami, washington, san francisco, if you plan on flying today. a former airline pilot has been arrested for flying a plane from oregon to california apparently drunk. >> david arns stone worked for alaskan airlines.

after landing in orange county from portland with a blood alcohol level of 0.13. well above the legal limit. alaska airlines says he never flew again after the 2014 flight and resigned rather than being fired. he has been released on bail and ordered back to court next month and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. an oklahoma judge has come down hard on a former police officer convicted of raping women during his patrols giving him a consecutive sentence of 263 years in prison. daniel holtzclaw's attacks went on for several months sexually assaulting women who were afraid to come forward. that is, until one of his victims, a neighborhood grandmother turned him in. a miami doctor has been suspended and could lose her job after she was caught on camera going off on an uber driver. she is seen here slapping and kicking the driver and heard launching a verbal tirade. the driver says she was drunk,

charges and it turns out she hadn't even ordered the car but jumped in when she saw the uber sign. uber needless to say has suspended her account. don't mess with maria. that's the lesson learned after a confrontation between a suburban boston store owner and a would-be robber armed with a knife's demanded all the money in the register but mariey alves was ready and gave him a good swat. >> grabbed it then i smack him with this. he says i don't want to get this trouble. i don't want to get this trouble. >> in almost a decade it's only the second time alves has had to use one of her clubs. she is going to pray for the young man and she'd like to talk to him. well, an incredibly close call for lufkin, texas, police officers as a tractor trailer rounds a corner too fast. its empty lowboy trailer almost takes ow the cops and cruiser. after posting this they found

said his brakes didn't lock up. he didn't see the police or he would have stopped and checked on them. of course, seeing a deer isn't really a shock unless you slope. she caught the much too close encounter while skiing in sun valley. although she's a former free skiing world champion angel says this has never happened to her before. one she won't forget. the super bowl matchup will be set this weekend with two conference title games. by the time the arizona cardinals play the carolina panthers weather should be manageable. are the panthers manageable? they went on a 12-game winning streak at the start of the season. patriots are getting out of new england for sunday's game in denver. the pats are always pretty intense in their game prep but especially so for the qb. >> there's no player off our team i have any more respect for

preparation is consistency, his skill skills i will never ever ever underestimate him under any circumstances. >> well, that said he has had arm trouble and missed six games and has thrown 17 interceptions compared to just nine touchdowns. it still should be a pretty good classic matchup between manning and brady. >> up next in "the pulse," shared dedication. the oldest barber in the hair cutting hair at over 100 years old. strum per ter, the musician stealing hearts with his confidence. >> yeah! i have asthma... ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine,

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time now to check "the pulse." starting with social media's savvy students trying to trick a tv station. our affiliate in chattanooga, tennessee, shared a twitter back and forth. >> started with this direct message saying inform students of no school. the station said, ha, ha, nice try. you obviously don't know the password. >> the station then tweeted, kid, don't direct message us pretending you are some school official canceling school.

>> but you know what, i would probably give these kids an at q for effort. in the end they won because the county did end up closing the school so they were kind of ahead of the system. >> the county fooled it. it may be snowing but a dating app says this will be a hot weekend. >> it'll be warm indoors. hinge saw a 47% spike in activity on the east coast during the january snowstorm a year ago and last year the average hinge user logged in five times, two more than usual. >> tinder also expecting more swipes. last year one guy's profile went viral making it clear he wanted to, quote, party during the storm. is that what the kids call it in these days. >> i guess it's party. there will be a lot of party babies in october apparently. >> on the map. >> yeah, a barber in new york state has no plans to retire

few -- i'm just trying to make sure -- i am in the clear. >> i never saw you tongue tied. anthony mans nelly starting cutting hair when calvin coolidge was in the white house and never stopped. >> he has been recognized as the world's oldest basher and works at least five days a week. >> hours don't matter with me. i don't get tired. i just -- i keep going. >> and in case you were wondering his hands are just as steady as they always were. customers keep coming back. >> good. all right. i love this. here's something every beginning musician's parents can relate to the first recital. it's music to their ears and only their ears. >> but this boys bring i would say something special to it when he finishes his piece. [ applause ]

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good morning tri-state i'm kathrine nero. nero.and i'm chris riva... while you are waking up to a pretty regular morning the early afternoon through the evening will be anything but. the snow will start in around 9am and move across cincinnati closer to 2pm.the roads are going to be bad and while officials have'nt declared a snow emergnecy yet, they could.

schools are already announcing early dismissals or just canceling class all together.again it's because the snow will really be coming down right around the time schools let out.the updates are running at the bottom of your screen but you can log on