making news in america this morning, double edge storm. heavy winds and torrential rains in the east leave thousands without power overnight and communities in the south are stunned by the deadly destruction as the midwest is hit hard by whiteout conditions. we have the latest on the storm track. privacy fight. ceo tim cook telling abc news that apple is standing firm against the government despite that order to access a terrorist's iphone. >> this is not about one phone. this is about the future. >> the abc news exclusive interview just ahead. fighting the flu in the depths of the season. some encouraging news about this year's vaccine. why you should consider getting

oh, boy, pants on fire. a small explosion in a store caught on security camera and, no, that is not money burning a hole in his pocket. well, good thursday morning. millions of americans are reeling from the vicious storms hammering the eastern two-thirds of the country. >> along the mid-atlantic, virginia is under a state of emergency this morning where tornadoes and thunderstorms have left at least four people dead. tens of thousands are still without power and roadways are flooded. >> in the midwest blizzard-like conditions left a huge mess, nearly a foot of wet, heavy snow blanketed roads and knocked out power. drivers need to be careful of dangerously icy conditions created by frigid temperatures overnight. >> the impact nearly 1,200 flights in and out of chicago airports have been canceled so

air travel across the country today. and on the ground the full effect of the devastating storms and the massive cleanup ahead are just starting to unfold. overnight, millions of americans hit hard as a deadly winter storm continues its march north. torrential rains flooding the mid-atlantic to the northeast. the downpours creating flash floods, washing away cars and creating a mess for the d.c. area. >> i thinking i would ask god to help me and pray. >> reporter: in new york heavy winds overturned this truck on the george washington bridge. this time lapse showing it moving into charlotte, north carolina. strong winds toppling trees, hopes and power lines there. more than 160,000 people without power across 7 state, it's the same system that spawned terrifying twisters in virginia, a state of emergency in effect. a deadly tornado shredding homes, among the victims, a

>> only thing we heard was 2-year-old baby was found in the woods. >> reporter: that baby and two others pronoce dead. >> this is devastating. >> reporter: across the region more than 30 tornadoes in the last day alone, first tearing across louisiana destroying this rv park. >> god let us be okay. >> reporter: and on the back side of this massive storm, blizzard conditions across the midwest. >> don't need to make the trip don't make the trip today. >> reporter: in parts of illinois and indiana, nearly whiteout conditions making travel extra difficult. and that area, by the way is in for more snow today. take a look but it's not expected to be quite as heavy. with the snow showers continuing around the great lakes and temperatures will move back up into the 30s. in the mid-atlantic in northeast plan on mostly dry conditions although temperatures will be a bit cooler. well, to politics now, the republicans preparing to face off in houston tonight. their final debate before super tuesday.

in nevada donald trump is now tangling with mitt romney over his tax returns but he's also trading jabs with the other gop candidates who are struggling to catch up. >> it's "your voice, your vote." we get the latest from abc's kenneth moton. good morning, kenneth. >> reporter: good morning, reena and kendis. it is a case of irony. millionaire mitt romney was criticized about his own tax returns but now he's making similar attacks against billionaire donald trump. hours before severe weather ripped through virginia overnight, donald trump was on the ground rallying supporters, talking running mates. >> i do want somebody that's political because i want to get lots of great legislation that we all want passed. >> reporter: trump was a no-show for a republican town hall on fox news hosted by megyn kelly who had a very public feud with the gop front-runner. the candidates lined up as they worked to take down trump. >> we are not going to allow the conservative movement to be defined by a nominee who is not a conservative. >> reporter: all four promise to release tax returns this week after mitt romney called on them

the 2012 gop nominee even said he believes there's a quote bombshell in trump's taxes. >> when people decide they don't want to give you your taxes it's usually because there's something they don't want you to see. >> reporter: trump went on the attack and tweeted mitt romney who totally blew an election that should have been won and whose faction returns made him look like a fool -- fewer fireworks from the democratic side. hillary clinton made her case ahead of saturday's south carolina primary. bernie sanders who is struggling with black voters there moved on to super tuesday states drawing 9,000 people to his rally in tulsa, oklahoma. as for trump's taxes he says there is no bombshell other than he pays a lot. the republicans will debate tonight on cnn in the super tuesday state of texas where the governor just endorsed his senator, ted cruz. reena and kendis.

definitely for them, kenneth moton live in washington for us this morning, thank you. new developments this morning now in the standoff over president obama's pick for the supreme court. sources tell abc news the president is considering a republican, brian sandoval as the nominee. he is a former federal judge who supports abortion rights, his nomination could be seen as an overture to republican lawmakers who vowed to block the president's choice. top senate republicans will meet with the president next week. and access to abortion clinics may soon be limited in louisiana. a federal appeals court has refused to block a new law which advocates, say, will force clinics in the state to close. that law requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles. a group supporting abortion rights says it will take the case to the supreme court. moving overseas to syria where a cease-fire in the civil

saturday morning. it allows aid to reach remote areas. here at home growing calls to establish a so-called safe zone if the cease-fire fails. john kerry told lawmakers it would require up to 30,000 u.s. ground troops to maintain. a new isis video in the meantime, threatens the lives of facebook founder mark zuckerberg and jack dorsey, the head of twitter. 25-minute video is too disturb disturbing to show including pictures of the two men covered in bullet holes. isis says it is responding to efforts by facebook and twitter to suspend accounts and remove posts that promote terrorism. well, still ahead our exclusive with apple ceo tim cook speaking for the first time about apple's legal showdown with the fbi. >> but first tearful testimony

she's a shell of her former self after photos were leaked online. can you guess which country

those charging elephants in africa were chasing arizona senator and some others during their trip to africa. during a boat ride a hippo showed off teeth. his purpose was to learn more about poaching. kesha's legal battle. abc news obtained video denying she had sexual relations with music producer dr. luke. kesha is suing claiming he sexually abused her and she wants out of her recording contract. the video was taken during a

a judge ruled friday kesha must follow through but doesn't have to work with dr. luke. kesha has garnered support from others including taylor swift, adele. well, emotional testimony erin andrews. andrews choked up as her dad told the court her daughter was a shell of her former self and all she did was cry after discovering a stalker had posted videos of her. she's suing barrett and the marriott for $75 million. a veteran law enforcement officer died while carrying out a high-risk eviction. two others were hurt which killed the homeowner. it was considered high risk after that homeowner posted online rants against the police. austin, texas, a police sniper who shot and killed an armed suspect will not be

newly released video from a year ago shows 27-year-old sauer flash repeatedly flying at a police helicopter as it hovered over his house. that's when the officer moved in and shot him in the head. his two young daughters were sleeps inside. well, the u.s. is no longer home to the most billionaires in the word. that distinction goes to china now. according to a newly released annual list, 90 new chinese billionaires moved to china -- moved china into first place by a margin of 33 billionaires. beijing is the city with the most with 100. that's five more than new york. >> see, donald trump is going to say, i was right. all along. it's china. >> china. when we come back the exclusive interview with apple's ceo tim cook arguing that their battle with the fbi isn't just over privacy, but security, as well. and promising new information regarding this season's flu vaccine. what you need to know. so my kids don't have to forage, got two jobs to pay a mortgage, and i've also got a brain.

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jane' s always on the move. luckily her light & fit protein smoothie can keep up with her. packed with 12grams of protein and no added sugar. so she can watch her calories and where she' s going. light & fit feel free to enjoy. so, a passenger on board a plane captured this dark image of turbulent storm clouds swept louisiana. the twister was part of that bigger deadly storm that's been tearing up parts of the south and mid-atlantic states. that same system is creating dicey conditions for this morning's commute. watch out for icy or wet roads from the great lakes stretching south to northern tennessee. and if you're flying, likely to find airport delays today in detroit and boston. well, now to that abc news

apple's ceo tim cook's first interview. cook tells david muir that doing so would make hundreds of millions of customers vulnerable to hackers. >> yes. the only way we know would be to write a piece of software that we view as sort of the software equivalent of cancer. we think it's bad news to write. we would never write it. we have never written it, and that is what is at stake here. >> the fbi though says it believes that syed farook used that phone to communicate with his wife his accomplice and i'm curious, do you struggle at all with the possibility there could be information on that phone that could reveal other plot, other people who were involved attack? >> david, if we knew a way to get the information on the phone that we haven't already given, if we knew a way to do in that would not expose hundreds of millions of other people to

>> i want to get to what the fbi director james comey said. he said it's not about a slippery quote but 14 were slaughtered and many more had their lives ruined. many the phone holds the clue but we can't look the survivorses in the eye or ourselves if we don't follow any possible lead out there. coming from. >> i do and this is an incredibly complex issue to place a back door in the iphone. we believe it does put hundreds of millions of customers at risk. there's probably more information about you on your phone than there is in your house. our smartphones are loaded with our intimate conversations, ow financial data, our health records, they're also loaded with the location of our kids in many cases and so it's not just about privacy, but it's also about public safety. >> but this your quiet moments do you have any concern that you might be able to prevent a terrorist attack by breaking

>> david, some things are hard and some things are right and some things are both. this is one of those things. >> and in this case you believe there are some things that just should never be created. >> correct. >> apple has until tomorrow to file its legal response to the case. in response to cook's comments the senior government official tells us the fbi wants apple to develop a way into the phone that will only be known to the company itself and no one else. as for cook's suggestion congress resolve the dispute the official claims that would take too long. now to some encouraging news about this year's flu vaccine. it's doing better than last year's vaccine. preliminary information from the centers for disease control finds it is 59% effective. a big improvement over last year's results showing only 20% effectiveness. health officials say that we've had a milder flu season this year, but they warn it has not

to a frightening scene caught on camera at a gas station in kentucky. an e-cigarette battery exploded in a man's pocket. josh hamilton was shocked when his pants burst into flames as he ran from the store in panic. a clerk followed him with a fire extinguisher and put out the flames. hamilton suffered serious burns on his leg, but he is expected to be okay. >> good to know he'll be all right. police in ohio are on the lookout for a man they've dubbed the rogaine robber. the bald bandit is accused of stealing the hair growth drug from store shelves across the buckeye state. cops say it's likely he's trying to resell the stolen rogaine either online or at flea markets. they don't believe he's using any of the products on himself despite his bald head. >> okay, well, coming up, coming back down to earth astronaut scott kelly ready to come home but not without helping us take a giant leap towards mars. fresh reaction to the news facebook reaction to our

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topping our look at the "the pulse" our conversation with the space. >> astronaut scott kelly is international space station and returns to earth next tuesday. >> okay, so among the insights he shared with our david kerley who covers transportation for us the monotony of being cooped up day after day, but there are the incredible sunsets and he doesn't mind the food but misses sitting down at a table to eat. he also talked about the possibility of a trip to mars. >> think absolutely i feel -- i feel great, but, you know, there are challenges especially with radiation between the earth and

hope to see in my lifetime. >> i love his passion. by the way, nasa scientists are exploring the possibility that lasers could shorten the trip to the red planet to just three days. >> wow, very cool. when kelly lands he and his twin brother mark of course, a retired astronaut will face a battery of tests to see how scott's body held up to 11 months of space compared to mark who's been down here on the ground. >> it'll be a huge homecoming. reaction ng to reactions getting used to the new button options. >> those are them. the social media giant has completely revamped its feedback system revamping its like button and expanding by adding the ability to love and you can also use a series of emojis including ha, ha and wow and sad face and what is sure to be the new favorite one, an angry reaction. >> i'm just glad there's no dislike button. i like the positivity than the negativity. there are some suggestions

facebook made the move like this one that apparently says you are insufferable. >> you make me want to puke. >> how about cringe. this would work well for some of the things i see on my feed every day or how about simply drunk. >> drunk. >> i've been drinking. somebody's been drinking with that one. okay, so we all have those favorite foods that we really don't like to share. maybe a plate of french fries you plan to consume till the last one is gone. >> that includes this panda. enjoying a fist food of bamboo root. the small one is thinking i'd like to take a bite of that. try snatching it away. clearly that won't happen. see the foot that went up there. so the bigger one doesn't miss a beat fighting off the younger's advances. >> wow. he's going to smack him away. doesn't want to share. >> wow. that is one panda smackdown. >> that is how i am about pizza. get your own. >> your bamboo root is pizza. >> yes.

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live from the station taking action for you, this is abc action news. >> reporter: did you call 911 and say your son is missing?>> to parents -- 2 parents. the florida senator me at the feet. >> the spot in the kitchen where the employees were preparing chicken will make you feel sick. good morning and thank you for joining us this thursday. >> and i am dan shaffer. thank you for joining us. overnight, we learned a fourth person died in virginia after tornadoes and storms ripped across the state here among those killed, a two-year-old child.