making news in america this morning, final stretch. just 13 days to go until the first voters have their say in this 2016 race. the candidates going head-to-head. trump fumbling a bible verse as the british parliament debates banning the billionaire. major american cities waking up to the coldest temperatures this season and the west coast preparing for another round of rain. we are tracking it all. close call. a driver heading down a highway when a light pole comes crashing through. and king james beaten badly. scuffling with steph curry in the biggest blow-out of his

cavs fans saying it all. as we say good tuesday morning hope you're enjoying breakfast looking at that picture. two weeks from this morning the result of the iowa caucuses will be in. >> donald trump and ted cruz battling it out for first place on the republican side. hillary clinton and bernie sanders for the democrats and all of them desperate to win that first contest. >> abc's megan hughes has the latest for us from the campaign trail and joins us now from washington, d.c. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, kendis and reena. that's right. the latest iowa polls show that it is tight for both political parties, but especially on the ted cruz and donald trump neck and neck. at liberty university trump made an appeal for evangelical voters. >> two corps inthians, 3:17, that's the whole ball game where the spirit of the lord, right -- >> reporter: the spirit of the

trump blasting cruz on "this week." >> he's a nasty guy. nobody likes him, nobody in congress likes him. nobody likes him anywhere. >> reporter: cruz tweeting this janet jackson video in response to being called nasty. don't mean a thing to me >> reporter: cruz says he's getting under trump's skin. >> donald seems to be rattled. >> reporter: cruz's campaign continues to hammer trump over his, quote, new york values. releasing this 1999 video trump in his own words. >> hey, i lived in new york city and manhattan all my life, okay, so, you know, my views are a little bit different than if i lived in iowa perhaps. >> reporter: one person not talking trump, hillary clinton. asked on the campaign trail were whether he would divide the american people and destroy america, clinton dodged. >> wow. well, that's a pretty good summary. >> reporter: sanders is standing by his attacks on clinton from this weekend's debate telling abc news in columbia --

one year from speaking fees from goldman sachs. if that's not true i will apologize. >> reporter: sanders is going big in iowa today. he has four events scheduled. trump has three in the all-important hawkeye state. kendis, reena. >> megan hughes, live in washington, thank you so much. meantime, the british parliament held a lively debate over whether to ban donald trump from visiting. >> they did so because half of a million people signed a petition asking for him to be excluded over his call to ban muslims in the u.s., although the debate was required, a vote was not, so trump is free to visit britain. now to the morning's other major story that we're following, the brutal cold weather that is spreading beyond the midwest. now hitting the east coast. >> let's take a look at the radar, lake-effect snow still sweeping into upstate new york. snowfall rates could be 2 to 4 inches an hour. accuweather's paul williams tracking it all. good morning, paul. >> thanks, kendis, reena.

from the north will actually bother the good old southern down towards the tennessee valley region and into the evening time it'll stay cool throughout portions of florida. travel problems, great lakes and towards the northeast more lake-effect snow and snow showers developing throughout the northern rocky mountain states then along the california coast, widespread scattered showers, it's going to cause localized flooding and serious travel problems. kendis, reena. >> paul williams at accuweather. three of the americans freed by iran are in germany recuperating from their ordeal reuniting with family members and receiving visits by members of congress. "the washington post" reporter jason rezaian spent 1 months in iranian custody and says he's feeling good physically and his family agrees. >> he's definitely lost some weight. but, you know, really did, i mean, he was joking, we were joking around. we were having a good time.

>> rezaian says he knows people want to hear from him but he wants some time right now to process exactly what happened. well, former marine amir hekmati, however, lost no time processing his first steak dinner in more than four years. his family and congressmen joined him in germany, the fourth former prisoner stayed in iran and an american student who was freed as part of the swap is already in boston. but the family of another american still being held in iran says they feel betrayed by the white house. former fbi agent robert levinson disappeared in 2007 while working indirectly for the cia. the family tells abc's brian ross, the government could have done more. >> i'm very disappointed. i'm -- feel extremely betrayed by them. they have done nothing to get in touch with me other than after i asked them to. >> who was serving his country and his country hasn't done its

>> u.s. officials tell abc news levinson was part of the negotiations and they still do not know why he was not included in the swap but the door is now open to talks with the iranian government about him as well as other issues. some new details about what mexico is doing to keep el chapo from escaping again. take a look at this photograph. it is the first of the kingpin since he was sent back to prison 11 days ago, during his first five nights there he was moved seven times. there are more than 30 cells to which he can be moved by guards with cameras on their helmets and new surveillance cameras spots. the mayor of flint, michigan, will be in washington today seeking help with the city's water crisis back in flint two new class action lawsuits announced against the governor and health officials amid a city financial crisis in april 2014. the state decided to save money by switching the water supply to the flint river. risen since then. the los angeles rams are

tickets and first to plunk down his $100 was l.a. sports legend magic johnson but the rams can't sell the luxury boxes until it's determined who will be sharing their stadium. the chargers and rams held their first meeting last night. neither is saying what was discussed or even if there will be further meetings. a martin luther king day protest caused this. members of black seed, an off. shoot of black lives together strung the cars together. 25 arrests made and the road was re-opened. in washington, president obama and the first lady followed the king day theme of community service by helping to fill bags with books for the needy. each bag included a copy of "oh, the things you can do that are good for you" about dr. seuss. that's a good one. still ahead, it is that time of year, tax returns. now accepted. this year you get more time.

music legend, the shocking news about the eagles' glenn frey. overnight reaction from the stars. close call, a light pole

how is this for a drive home. this happened on the belthway outside washington, d.c. a light pole crashing through the roof of this prius, just six inches from the driver's head. it all started when an ambulance hit the pole and knocked it over. the driver credits god for saving his life. well, residents of a small ohio village are mourning a police officer who died in an

the body of thomas cattrall was found. a woman called 911 to say her boyfriend was looking to shoot a police officer. dispatchers tried to warn officers on patrol but it was too late. the suspect now in custody has a long criminal record. the tax filing season begins today. this is the first day the irs will accept 2015 returns. the agency says it has taken steps to protect against identity theft so you may notice some changes this year. state tax agencies say they may delay their refunds. you also get an extra three days this year because of a local holiday in washington, d.c. the deadline this year did 18th. trader joe recall over a possible salmonella contamination. the concern involves 16-ounce bags of raw cashew pieces. distributed to its stores in 30 states with a best before code including 7/17. no illnesses includes so far. complete details at our website. not too early to be thinking

dinner with that special someone. white castle says reservations are going fast, yes, white castle. bet you didn't think of that one, kendis. >> it's a breakup dinner. >> it's the 25th anniversary of valentine's day, table service at the burger chain. this year's menu includes shrimp nibblers, strawberry and cream waffles and don't think castle isn't very romantic, a spokesman says it also has wedding bookings for later this year. >> oh, very nice. wear a white dress for it. when we come back, new this morning an overnight police chase complicated with a car full of dogs. and a plane with the nose off the ground damaged in severe weather. the fame always person who owns that jet. soup and sandwich and somewhere to go, and clean and real and

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death music fans are mourning the loss of another rock 'n' roll great. plenty of room at the hotel california >> eagles co-founder glenn frey died after facing several serious health challenges. only 67. he wrote many of the megahits including hotel california and had success as a solo artist with songs including "the one you love" and "you belong to the city." >> tributes are pouring in. don henley posting he was like a brother to me. we were family. it will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it. >> brian wilson from the beach boys tweeting, i was shocked to hear about glenn frey passing away. it was a real blow to hear. "love & mercy" to glenn's family tonight." anger is building about the lack of diversity in this year's oscar nominees. >> i will not be at the academy

>> that is actress jada pinkett smith. on her facebook page it's the second year in a row there are no people of color in any of the four acting categories. the motion pick academy president acknowledging late last night something is wrong and promising changes. >> what we really need is to support of the industry across the board, the entire industry in our efforts to actually get this accomplishment done. >> director spike lee also says he's not attending the ceremony. filmmaker michael moore won't, as well. well, a bizarre end to a pursuit in southern california. police chasing a suspect racing away from police with several dogs inside her car. the cops disabled the vehicle and the driver surrendered then let the dogs loose. they ran around the freeway snarling traffic until police could round them up. >> answering the question who let the dogs out. health news now and worrying new numbers about lyme disease.

ticks which spread the disease have now advanced to half the counties in the u.s. researchers say it's now important for people to protect themselves from ticks in places where they didn't before. now, when caught early lyme disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics. this isn't the sort of move you want to see on a basketball court. jamal reed intentionally tripped a referee because he didn't like the call. he was suspended for at least four games. more if the coaches don't like his contact. he has apologized. rematch of last spring's nba championship series and didn't go well for the cleveland cavaliers. before the game golden state's steph curry had boasted about winning the title saying he hoped he'd still smell the champagne in the visitors' locker room. >> some smack talk. no surprise that he and cavs star lebron james got into it in the first quarter. it didn't matter because curry

warriors thoroughly conquered the king and the cavaliers, 132-98. this photo, though, this morning really kind of sums up -- these are the cleveland fans, one guy for gold. >> digging for gold. >> or something. >> that's an interesting phrase. maybe he thought the team was >> perhaps. we know they have the number two pick in the draft. >> oh. up next in "the pulse," steve harvey getting emotional talking about his epic mistake at the miss universe pageant. >> and no more headaches. the hangover-free alcohol. whoa. what's going on here? oh hey allison. i'm val, the orange money retirement squirrel from voya. val from voya? yeah, val from voya. quick question, what are voya

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time for us to check "the pulse." we'll start with steve harvey and some disturbing revelations after that miss universe debacle. the talk show host trying to come back after mistakenly announcing the wrong winner in the miss universe contest. >> yeah, so he named miss colombia the victor before realizing it was actually really miss philippines. dur the taping of a two-part show on the topic, he got especially emotional talking about his wife. >> that night i went to bed at 12:30. i woke up at 2:30. i couldn't even sleep. but my girl got it with me, marjorie. she got up with me. she was the best. [ applause ] and you got to have somebody with you. somebody climb down in the hole with you and she did that.

harvey says it's been especially difficult for his family. his wife and children have actually received death threats and they've been viciously attacked on social media. everyone had such a laugh at his expense and he is the funny guy but people forget that when you make mistakes like that on an international level, it hurts. >> it dis hurt and he's come around to celebrating it a little bit but obviously after it immediately happened it was tough. >> hard, right. . >> so you can back off now and ladies and gentlemen, it turns out that man flu is a real thing. apparently the flu really does hit us guys harder. researchers at johns hopkins have figured out that women are protected from aggressive flu simms because of the female hore hone estrogen. >> did a man do this survey? >> yes. >> and the research for this. >> sure sounds like it. >> a smart man. >> still doesn't mean we should wait on you hand and foot, kendis. so get your own chicken soup. >> no, come on. >> or delivery.com.

achieved another scientific milestone. hangover-free alcohol. north korea's official media says it's made from begin skeng and instead of sugar, it uses burnt rice. >> okay, so it's the sugar that causes a hangover apparently but experts are skeptical to say the least. last year north korea claims its scientists had discovered cures for aids and also ebola. >> don't get too excited. >> you'll end up like that still. now to a story blowing up on our website, more than 1,000 likes for a pooch that loves to give hugs. >> yeah, this affectionate border cole board border collie and the owner recently posted this with the german shepherd named grizzly viewed more than 36 million times. look at that hug. oh. >> that dog is everyone's best friend. >> it is.

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