travel mess. tens of thousands of travelers stranded. airports under a virtual ground freeze. convoys of snow plows clearing the roads. how long till travelers get where they need to go? > race for 2016. one week till iowa. the new numbers out tonight. donald trump surging past ted cruz in the hawkeye state. on the run. three men considered extremely dangerous, accused of murder and torture, busting out. inside their escape plan. tonight, the manhunt, the new reward, and why they may be hiding in plain sight. and, crash for cash? the man accused of staging more than 20 car accidents and getting his victims to pay. it's part of a multi-billion dollar industry. now, how drivers are fighting back. good evening. thanks for joining us on this sunday.

we begin with one of the fiercest winter storms on record. stretching across 1,000 miles, from louisiana to new england. leaving at least 25 people dead. blinding snow, fierce winds, with the bull's-eye on new york city. and from washington to new england, streets narrowed to a single lane. cars hard to see. and backhoes being used in washington, with the capitol in the distance. and a river of ice in the streets. and the storm grounding more than 12,000 flights. rob marciano, leading us off tonight. >> reporter: the snow's stopped falling, but for millions still reeling from this monstrous

firefighters in virginia struggling to dig fire hydrants out of three feet of snow to battle. roofs collapsing under the weight of all that snow. dozens displaced from this apartment complex in virginia. this church in pennsylvania caving in just hours before sunday services. even the redskins' practice dome deflated. today, the big digout, that is, if you could even get to your car. new yorkers climbing four or five-foot drifts to reach them. the view from above capturing the scope. the nation's capitol shut down. winds gusting to 75 miles per hour. new york city suddenly finding itself in the bull's-eye. at least 25 deaths now blamed on the storm. a new jersey mom and her son tragically lost to carbon monoxide poisoning while warming up in a running car.

snow, a 24-hour record, and just 0.1 of an inch shy of the all time record of 2006. the biggest record in baltimore, 29.2 inches. cracking the top five in d.c. and philly, too. our own gloria riviera is in reston, virginia. >> look at this. that's pavement. that's a good sign. the plows have been through this area. but, all that snow has to go somewhere, and look at this. it's a snow wall and it's past my waist and it's barricading every car in the block in. >> reporter: huge piles in new york city building up. and two feet of snow falling in such a cramped space is not easy to work around or get rid of. >> thank you. and now, to the travelers caught by the storm. tens of thousands of them stranded on the highways,

trapped for nearly 20 hours. here's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: tonight, drivers stranded in that endless gridlock in some cases for 30 hours, finally free. 7:30 friday night, this church bus, packed with 37 students and 10 chaperones, gets stuck on the pennsylvania turnpike, the blizzard intensifying. >> it was bitter cold. it was in the teens, if not colder. >> reporter: early the next morning, still stuck, the students turn into good samaritans, helping out other drivers. >> we gave them food and some of them came and stayed on n e bus with us.s. >> reporter: yesterday afternoon, freedom. but ten miles behind them, another school group is still barricaded in the snow. it takes them 11 more hours to get out, 30 hours total in blizzard gridlock. that group holding mass to lift the spirits of the marooned travelers. >> reporter: the last group of stuck cars, finally able to get moving this morning. and tonight, everyone is on the road home. >> we were all in good spirits. we all glad we had each other.

be clearing, the concern turns to black ice, with melted snow that could freeze again. >> thank you. and it wasn't just the snow and wind that battered the coast, but flooded streets forced people from their homes and trapped others. here's linzie janis. >> reporter: record-breaking flooding in parts of new jersey, worse than super storm sandy. huge waves submerging towns in over nine feet of water. roads turned into rushing rivers. huge chunks of ice floating down the streets. now, the people here, cleaning up. at high tide, dominic piro's deli in north wildwood, taking on two feet of water.

sandy. >> reporter: hundreds of people had to be rescued from the flood waters. like this man in ocean city,nd this little girl carried out of we tagged along as emergency workers helped this elderly woman return to her apartment. >> i'm home. >> reporter: this is what the town of stone harbor looks like now, but take a look what it was like saturday. more than three feet of standing water in the streets. but tonight, some towns faring better than expected. belmar, staying dry. and back here in the deli, the flood waters are completely gone. but this pile just some of the stuff he's going to have to throw away. tom, he says he hopes to be back in business by the summer. >> linzie, thank you so much. tonight, the storm hit many of the east coast's

airline passengers are still stuck, waiting for a flight out. here's david kerley. >> reporter: so much snow to clear. plows and trucks working all day at an empty washington, d.c., airport. no planes, no passengers. a ghost town. >> please maintain control of your personal belongings. >> reporter: some hopeful passengers in new york -- >> i just want to get out of here and go home. >> reporter: -- told they are going nowhere. >> i showed up at the airport and the airport's closed. >> reporter: already more than 800 flights cancelled for tomorrow. bringing the storm total to about 12,000, as all that snow is moved. and it's not just out on the airfield. a lot is going on behind the scenes, and workers have to be able to get to their positions in order for the airport to re-open. the closure of the major airports in the east has a ripple effect across the entire country -- delays and cancellations. and even overseas, some international flights can't get in. michael kurth is stranded in

>> in total, it will come out to be about 48 hours or more of travel. >> reporter: amtrak rail, running reduced service during the storm, is coming back. regional and city rail, far from full service at new york's penn station. >> we got stranded and had to stay one more night. >> reporter: but this afternoon, a few flights starting to take off from northern airports. this one at new york's laguardia. e real question is, tomorrow's commute. and with all this snow to move, it's unlikely that any of the tom? >> so many stuck tonight. david, thank you so much. and rob is back. air. are we going to see a warm-up anytime soon? >> we will, but not tonight. temperatures around the freezing mark. anything that melted will

a lot of black ice and slick spots from new york to d.c. temps in the 20s and even teens. and go just 35 north of the city, and snow amounts about six inches, but below that, two feet of snow. some will melt, getting to more seasonable temperatures. i bet a lot of the snow will still be here by the end of the week. a new poll tonight with good news for donald trump. surging past ted cruz there, taking the lead. marco rubio and ben carson, ron paul, all behind them. in new hampshire, trump ahead of cruz by double digitsts cecilia vega has it all from iowa tonight. i >> reporter: donald trump kicking off his sunday on the campaign trail, right here in an iowa church. and he ended it with a rally

>> so, this is crunch time. >> reporter: and one protester. the man in the red turban interrupted trump as he spoke about terrorism. security escorting him out, the crowd went wild. and from trump? >> he wasn't wearing one of those hats, was he? was he wearing one of those? and he never will. >> reporter: that double-digit lead, largely due to first-time caucus goers, backing the brash billionaire, like the young family i met today. you are going to caucus for donald trump? >> we are, first time. >> reporter: why? >> he is relatable. >> he's not the politician you see every year running. he wants change. >> something different about him. he's not scripted. >> reporter: his gop rivals, still hoping for a victory of their own. very seriously. >> wow! >> reporter: it was texas personality on full display in this new clip posted on youtube. >> what i want to do in life? >> reporter: the lanky teenager, talking about his life goals,

wants. >> take over the world, world domination, you know, rule everything. rich, powerful, that sort of stuff. >> reporter: dominating the airwaves overnight. >> i wanted to take a break from my full-time career of writing things on facebook. >> reporter: "snl"'s version of trump and sarah palin, played by none other than tina fey. a lot of laughter last night, but the race is just as heated on the democratic side. hillary clinton's biggest event, 600 people showed up. for sanders, the number was 2,000. >> thank you. and to southern california, where three escaped prisoners

>> reporter: tonight, investigators say this dark rooftop surveillance video shows the moment three inmates escaped a maximum security jail. the flashes of light, believed to be the inmates. the fbi and u.s. marshals, joining the desperate search for hossein nayeri, jonathan tieu, and bac tien duong. >> two of them in custody for murder, and one of them for mayhem, kidnapping. i consider them very dangerous individuals. >> reporter: the inmates, escaping their dorm-style cell by cutting this hole through a grate, climbing through the plumbing, then breaking through five other secured areas. that's how they made it to an unsecured portion of this roof, rappelling down the side of the building using a makeshift rope. the inmates were last seen friday morning at around 5:00 a.m. they weren't discovered missing

manhunt late friday night. >> reporter: the family of the youngest fugitive, in disbelief. investigators say the plan was out. the fbi and u.s. marshals now offering a $50,000 reward to find the missing men. >> thank you. still ahead, one man, and nearly two dozen car accidents. is he the world's unluckiest driver, or was he something else? and annest earthquake, felt almost 200 miles away. those stories and more, coming up. introducing centrum vitamints. a brand new multivitamin you enjoy like a mint.

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[ laughing nervously ] [ pickles whines ] i know, it's like they're always on television. what? welcome back. tonight, the story of a man accused of plotting car

that it was their fault, then waiting for the big insurance check to arrive. clayton sandell has the story. >> reporter: prosecutors say navid monjazeb made a lucrative habit out of crashing into other drivers, filing fraudulent insurance claims, then collecting thousands of dollars. he allegedly did it nearly two dozen times. one victim's car had barely a scratch. but monjazeb claims his car looked like this. he's now facing charges cluding insurance frfrd and reckless endangerment. one study estimates in 2012 fake or inflated car accident claims added up to as much as $7.7 billion. as one of monjazeb's victims found, that cost gets passed on. >> my rates went up, and i had to pay to fix my own car because i only had liability on it. >> reporter: authorities say the schemes often involve multiple cars and fake witnesses. >> the victim slams into the second car which is filled with three or four papaengers, all of whom will claim injuries. >> reporter: some drivers are now turning to dash cameras, popular overseas for catching

crashes. this driver in georgia used a dash cam to prove another car ran a red light, hitting him. >> there's no other way to be sure that you can prove in court if you need to that the accident was not your fault without having some kind of video evidence. >> reporter: manjazeb's lawyers did not return our calls, but authorities say they've now put the brakes on his alleged scam. clayton sandell, abc news, denver. when we come back, a skier falling 1,000 feet down a mountain. all of it caught on camera. what happened when she finally stopped tumbling, and the unbelievable thing she said. later, a police officer that went above and beyond the call of duty catches the attention of an nba legend. how they gave some kids the most amazing pickup game of their lives. stay with us. for her. for them. and him.

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powerful earthquake. the epicenter of the 7.1 quake located in the cook inlet region, about 162 miles southwest of anchorage. where they felt it there as well. it struck in the middle of the night, shaking these lights at an airport hangar. so many, waking up to scenes like this right in their living rooms. and in many stores, the shaking knocked items right off the shelves. there were at least 30 aftershocks and reports of power outages. luckily, no one was hurt. now to some heart-stopping video. a skier taking a frightening fall. we want to let you know she's okay. we'll prove it. talk -- take a look at this. a 1,000-foot drop. but then she sits up, a sigh of relief. >> i'm okay. i'm okay. >> amazingly, she only slightly injured two fingers. you heard it. she's okay. what a fall. now to the big nfl matchup.

the afc championship game. at what may have been the final clash of football's leading men, tom brady and peyton manning. the rivals have been facing off on the field for 17 years. so much going on. we'll keep you updated on the game as it happens. now to the story full of surprises going viral tonight. it started with this florida police officer, responding to a call of kids making too much noise as they played basketball. instead of breaking up the game, get this, he joins in. and then this happened. nba legend shaquille o'neal was so touched by the video, he showed up in that same neighborhood to shoot some hoops. those kids were so surprised. having the pickup game of their lives. when we come back, the house call this mother will never forget. there was no heat, but then a surprise. the story, when we come back. i'm val, the orange money retirement squirrel from voya.

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finally tonight, with so much of the country shivering in cold temperatures, you don't want your furnace to stop working. but one mother in pittsburgh had here's john donvan. >> reporter: what this furnace in bridget stephen's house near was a spark. because it was dead, cold broken. >> it was freezing in here. so i checked the thermostat and in the house. >> reporter: now, normally, fixer, her husband robert. but he was off serving his country. still, with two kids at home,

anyway, by text. but ultimately it wasn't >> reporter: so bridget gave in and calls this guy, paul betlyn, who headed right over, even though -- >> i'm not supposed to be doing work. i just had a knee replacement. >> reporter: and so, paul betlyn goes inside this thing with a screwdriver, while bridget watches, and just chats. >> you know, my husband really would have been able to figure this out but he's getting ready to deploy. >> reporter: well, betlyn gets the thing going again. the furnace gets its spapa, and so did he. in his heart, when he writes out the bill. >> i couldn't say it because i would get emotional. so i wrote, night call deployment special. $1. >> reporter: that's right. what would have been a bill for about $150, he wrote down to a buck. and even that, he wouldn't take from bridget. >> thank you, very, very much. >> reporter: "it's the kind of thing you read about," bridget told us, "but never think will happen to you." which is why, tonight, for this familylyf four, one far away, the house and d me feel

and not just because the furnace is back working. john donvan, abc news, new york. >> "gma" first thing tomorrow morning, david will be back

good night. ( whistling sprightly tune ) starring andy griffith... with ronny howard.