making news in america this morning, historic storm. parts of the deep south could see their first snowfall in a century. >> we're encouraging people to stay off the roads. >> right now the states of emergency in effect. the rare school closings and where the morning commute will be the slickest. nuclear taunt. president trump tweets about the size and power of his nuclear button being larger than kim jong-un's but just hours later a new move by north korea to open a line of communication with the south. a youtube star with millions of followers who are children apologizing for his shocking video showing an apparent suicide victim. this morning the new questions about why the video wasn't removed earlier and what's being done to protect kids online. megajackpot. the new headline overnight about

the jumbo lottery prize jumping even higher this morning. plus, the wild video of an owl attacking a woman and her dogs and why the chickens cross the road, bringing this freeway to a halt. we do have a lot of wild animals and wild weather on this wednesday and say good morning. i'm kendis gibson. or diane macedo. we begin with the storm that's being called a winter hurricane taking shape in florida and will spread snow, sleet and ice all the way up to the canadian border by the end of the week. >> you see georgia right there. fountains are frozen with temperatures 30 degrees below average. houston, texas, opened warming centers overnight. areas that haven't seen this kind of weather in decades are bracing for a dangerous wintry mix. a monster winter storm taking aim at the entire east coast.

>> this is not something that we experience on a regular basis. >> reporter: this morning parts of florida under a rare winter storm warning. schools closing today in ta tallahassee and the airport canceling flights. >> these are conditions we're not accustomed to. we're encouraging people to stay off the roads during those drive times. >> reporter: georgia, areas could see snow for the first time in a century. the storm is expected to hug the coastline, dumping snow from the carolinas to maine. it comes as a blast of arctic air shatters record lows across the country. >> i can't even describe it. it's unbearable. i'm wearing two hats, two pairs of gloves. i don't know. >> reporter: windchills 50 below zero in north dakota and minnesota. in chicago crews lighting fires to keep rail switches from freezing. and overnight in brooklyn firefighters battling this

massive apartment fire in 18-degree weather. three firefighters suffering serious injuries and in western new york state -- >> miles of traffic. miles. >> reporter: a whiteout causing havoc on the roads. a stretch of interstate 90 near buffalo shutting down after this chain reaction crash involving more than 20 vehicles. quite a scene there and behind this winter storm temperatures, can you believe it, will be dropping even lower. the gory details on the forecast in just a few minutes. a bold new tweet from president trump is stoking fears of a nuclear standoff. the president fired back at north korean leader kim jong-un, boasting about the size of the u.s. nuclear arsenal. the fiery rhetoric comes as north and south korea take a new step clearing the way for the first formal talks in two years. abc's stephanie ramos joins us live from washington. good morning to you, stephanie. >> reporter: erielle and kendis, good morning. this nuclear war tweet is getting a lot of attention and that's because before president

trump, no u.s. president had bragged so openly about the power they hold that can actually obliterate another country. president trump and the man he's called little rocket man north korea's leader kim jong-un are squaring off on whose nuclear button is bigger. this back and forth prompted by kim jong-un's threat against the u.s. in his new year's day speech. he says, the u.s. should know that the nuclear button is on my desk. the entire u.s. mainland is within our nuclear strike range. president trump responding on twitter posting, i too have a nuclear button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his and my button works. but before the president's latest tweet he seemed open to talks between south korea and the north after kim made a surprising proposal to talk with south korea about the winter olympics. this morning, that key cross border hotline between the north and south is now open. >> north korea can talk with

anyone they want but the u.s. is not going to recognize it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons that they have. >> reporter: while the president's secretary of state and defense secretary have said over and over again they're taking the diplomatic approach with north korea, the former chairman of the joint chiefs offered this dark assessment over the weekend. >> we're actually closer in my view to a nuclear war with north korea and in that region than we've ever been and i just don't see how -- i don't see the opportunities to solve this diplomatically at this particular point. >> reporter: u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley says if north korea carries out another missile test which they're expected to soon she said they could face even more sanctions. >> much more to come. stephanie ramos, thank you. iran is bracing for a seventh day of violentt. at least 21 have died and hundreds have been arrested amid outrage over soaring

unemployment inflation and corruption. the u.s. government is calling for an emergency meeting of the united nations security council to try to address the demonstrations. iran's supreme leader is blaming so-called enemies of iran for meddling. now, the trump administration called accusations of u.s. involvement in the complete nonsense. the president is threatening to cut off aid to the palestinian authority saying that palestinians are no longer willing to talk about peace.fte recognizes jerusalem as a capital of israel. a decision that palestinians said disqualified the u.s. from the peace process. meantime, paw responding to the president's tweet in which he said the u.s. has foolishly given pakistan billions in aid and has gotten nothing in return but lies and deceit. pakistan's government calls the tweet incomprehensible. here at home the retirement of the lge the u.s. senate could open the door for a run by mitt romney.

orrin hatch won't seek an eighth term. romney would be the favorite to replace hatch. romney has been an outspoken critic of trump. one possible hint about his plans yesterday his twitter location was changed from massachusetts to utah. former republican congresswoman michele bachmann says she is considering a run for al franken's former senate seat. bachmann ran for president in 2012 but dropped out early. franken's replace many tina smith will be sworn in today. franken announced his resignation amid allegations of sexual misconduct. a look at your weather for this wednesday morning. good morning. for the deep south we have a harsh freeze warning still in effect for most of the deep south, protect the plants, pi pipes, people, one to three inches in savannah, charleston, myrtle beach, possibly into wilmington. for the northeast the cold eases

slightly but that's just before we're hit with a haymaker of snowstorms that will bring with it 12 to 24 inches in some areas and at least 3 to 6 down towards the philadelphia area. i'm accuweather meteorologist paul williams. coming up, the nurse who commutes 2600 miles to work to keep his paycheck and quality of life. also ahead, the megaheadline overnight about the mega millions jackpot. growing once again. and a different type of reveal from chip and joanna gaines, the big announcement from the stars

before we start, i just want to say if anyone still doesn't have fios, please stay out of the way so your lag doesn't get us all killed, ben. what's so good about fios anyway? uh. what's so great about a 100% fiber-optic network that makes your gaming system actually work awesomely? hey. did you take out the trash? haha, garbage boy! dad, i already took out ben. it's not funny. gaming is best on a 100% fiber-optic network. so get fios. now, just $79.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee with a 2-year agreement. new video from the scene of a bus crash in lima, peru, that killed at

the bus plunging off a cliff and onto a rocky beach you see here. police say a tractor trailer hit the bus on a narrow stretch of highway called the devil's curve sending it plunging down that cliffside. so this is an interesting update that canadian man held hostage with his american wife for five years in afghanistan, well, he is now under arrest and facing serious charges. joshua boyle is accused of sexual assault, unlawful confinement and other offenses allegedly committed after he was rescued from the taliban along with his wife and three children who were born in captivity. no other details about the charges or the victims have been released. his wife says the trauma he was forced to endure has affected his mental state. if you need to ship something today, you will likely have a lot of company. u.p.s. has dubbed the day national returns day. the shipping giant expects to set a record by processing 1.4 million returns thanks to all those unwanted holiday gifts. more than a quarter of online purchases are sent back. three times the rate for items

bought in the stores. influential technology analyst is making a bold prediction. this year as the company looks for more ways to shake up the retail industry. other experts have strong doubts about this but target's stock rose 3% after the any, though, commented. >> that's interesting. to anyone who's complained about a long commute has never met this guy, take a look. tom foiks is a first that travels 2600 miles to get to work. he lives in pennsylvania but his job is in san francisco in that area and insists the cross-country flight four types a month is worth it. i'm making california money and i live very nice and he's been doing it for nearly a decade. if you're planning retire thanks to a mega millions jackpot you probably should get ready for work. it was worth $361 million but there were no big winners overnight. friday's jackpot will now be

worth at least $418 million. the fourth largest jackpot in the game's history. in the meantime tonight's powerball is worth 440 million. a lot of money on the line. coming up the new headline about autism rates in america. also ahead an apology from a youtube star who posted a video apparently showing someone who had committed suicide. the growing concern about what children can see online. the wild video. a woman fends off an owl that is attacking her dog. a disaster. my bargain detergent couldn't keep up. it was mostly water. so, i switched to tide pods. they're super concentrated, so i get a better clean. i mean, i give away water for free. i'm not about to pay for it in my detergent. #1 trusted. #1 awarded it's got to be tide. and for a plant-based clean, try tide purclean

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hey julie, i know today's critica...a sick day. need... dads don't take sick days... dads take dayquil severe. the non-drowsy, coughing, aching, fever, sore throat... ...stuffy head, no sick days medicine. 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. we're back with an airline passenger tired of waiting so he took matters into his own hands. see if you can see it. he opened the emergency exit on a ryanair flight and escaped from the plane in spain but he had second thoughts about jumping down off the wing, hesitated and so he was arrested right there. youtube star logan paul is facing serious backlash after posting a controversial video. that video was recorded in

what's known as japan's suicide forest and included images of what's appearing to be a person who had committed suicide. paul has apologized calling the video a severe lapse in judgment. >> for my fans who are defending my actions, please don't. they do not deserve to be defended. >> paul took down the video as criticism intensified. many critics are asking why youtube failed to take down the video immediately. >> i think youtube was probably blindsided because they didn't take down the video themself and it seems to have slipped through their moderation a>>outube issu expressing sympathy for the family of the person in that video. many critics are demanding that paul be removed from the site altogether. well, it appears autism rates in the u.s. are stabilizing. 4% of children have autism spectrum disorders with practically no change during a three-year period. more than 30,000 children were

surveyed. researchers aren't sure why autism appears to be leveling off or if it actually is and still affects 1 in 41 children. the criminal investigation into hollywood mogul harvey weinstein are expanding. torney is reviewing two sex crimes cases from the beverly hills police. the d.a. established a task force and the prosecutors are considering charges against weinstein. a new comment from tonya harding has some asking whether she knew about the 1994 attack on her rival nancy kerrigan. in an upcoming interview with amy robach harding says she knew something was up. a month or two before the attack. harding also says she overheard her former husband and then accomplice saying maybe we should take somebody out so we make sure she gets on the team, she being harding, of course, the full interview airs january 11th on abc. in other sports headlines, isaiah thomas made his season

day but for the cavaliers. he hadn't played since last may when he suffered a hip injury as a member of the celtics. thomas scored 17 points in cleveland's win over portland. and in college football the university of arizona has fired football coach rich rodriguez. the school announced his departure amid claims that he ran a hostile work place. rodriguez says the case involves his former assistant who had threatened a lawsuit alleging harassment. and the cincinnati bengals coach marvin lewis is sticking around for awhile. insiders the second straight losing season but lewis signed a two-year extension keeping him with the team through 2019. a woman in georgia is sharing details of a scary encounter with an owl. debra johnson says her two dachshunds were in the yard when the bird swooped in and pounced on one of the dogs. johnson says the owl was several feet tall. when she tried to protect her pet the owl moved in to attack her. johnson says the owl knocked her

down on the ground. she kicked and screamed trying to escape. finally a man comes out of the house and shooed the bird away. quite a bird fight there. in california it was chickens that were causing traffic problems. they were running loose on a freeway after the cage fell from the back of a truck and chh officers had to stop traffic to collect them. the driver didn't know they had fallen and didn't stop. up next in "the pulse," the warmest place in america may not be what youead, big news overnight from "fixer upper" couple chip and joanna gaines. plus, melting into extinction, one scientist says the world's chocolate supply may be gone. my mind. my 30-year marriage... ...my 3-month old business... plus...what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me? so i made a point to talk to my doctor. he told me about eliquis.

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>> does it put you iall? >> no, not at all, all right. we're looking to escape bone-chilling temperatures. you may want to consider a trip to alaska. warm and all that. yes, alaska, yeah, while most of the nation is freezing, alaska is feeling hot, hot, hot with balmy conditions, temperatures hovering between 44 and 50 degrees. that's about twice as warm as the normal high of 24 degrees. >> i'm coming ka several parts of northern and central alaska had their warmest december on record. forecasters attribute the warm weather to high and low pressures pushing tropical air to the north. buying my tickets tomorrow. >> there are actually parts of the u.s. colder than the surface of mars at this hour. >> like new york right now. america's most famer fixer uppers are making time for a new project as they prepare to exit their famous show. >> rumors rampant for awhile when chip and joanna gaines told

fans this would be their last season. now they've announced they're expecting baby number five. >> the couple said they wanted their kids to grow up out of the spotlight and they'd like to spend a little bit more time with family and the family will be bigger now. >> they made that announcement as their final season premiered. now we have alarming environmental news. >> yeah, scientists warn that chocolate, chocolate, folk, may be extinct by the year 2050. the cacao plant that chocolate comes from only grows in a few area, mostly rain forests which are disappearing. >> a little ray of hope. researchers may be able to be able to genetically modify the plant but this, i tell you is a complete horrible thing if it goes away. >> it really is. we started stockpiling here at "world news now". queen elizabeth is about to make a rare appearance in a documentary and she will talk about her coronation. >> she says she's attended two

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>> ♪ >> good morning everyone, i'm matt o'donnell. 4:27 on the clock. it's tuesday, january 3rd. here's what's coming up on "action news." taking ali sky6, penn's landing, the thermometer is actually heading up today, to feel somewhat frigid but after that snow for some of us, meteorologist, david murphy is tracking that coastal storm in the accuweather forecast. frozen water pipes causing problems around our area. krause are working to repair a water main. no one won the mega millions drawing makeing the jackpot jump bigger. it's all next on "action news" in a couple of minutes. >> ♪ conditions for the morning commute as the storm moves up the east coast. temperatures are heading back

down in the midwest and you can expect rain on the west coast. 75 there in los angeles. just south of there an attempt to right a previous wrong done by someone in orange county. >> the person was seen stealing packages from a porch, a porch pirate then apparently had a second thought. kabc's greg lee reports. >> reporter: lori and wayne can finally open the christmas gifts they almost did not receive. inside priceless collages their daughter made them of her wedding in october. >> she said there was one that was for the family but had a gift for my parents also this it that she wanted me to have the family together to open it. >> reporter: the only problem they never received them or a smaller box with this photo. they checked the surveillance cameras at their rancho santa margarita home and saw this, a woman creeping up grabbing both boxes from their doorstep and walking away. >> hiding herself the way she did and making sure she wasn't

caught on camera, so it was very discouraging. >> reporter: they filed a police report but expected to never see the special gifts again. >> we were thinking, you know, being so special, that these people are going to just open it, oh, it's not what i thought was in it and just throw them in the dumpster. >> reporter: a few days later on new year's day, a surprise. >> she comes in the house and says, mom, we got a package. and i said, well, that's odd, it's new year's day, nobody delivers packages on new year's. >> reporter: another look at the surveillance cameras shows the thief covering her face and returning the gifts right where she found them. a change of heart or resolution to stop stealing. either way the family was overwhelmed with gratitude. >> i can't tell her how appreciative i am she did the right thing in the end and returned it and made our family very happy. >> reporter: greg lee, abc 7 eyewitness news. >> definitely glad they have their photos back.

>> ♪ >> "action news." delaware valley's leading news program with matt o'donnell, tamala edwards, karen rogers and meteorologist, david murphy. >> ♪ >> good morning. it is 4:30 a.m. on this >> we are tracking the effect of a cold snap on our area. right now crews in montgomery county are still trying to repair a 30-inch water main break. >> heating repair companies are dealing with a skyrocketing amount of calls. >> parts of the south are bracing for a winter storm that will then head our way. >> some places already under a winter storm watch. let's turn to karen rogers and dave murphy for more on that. good morning. >> let's get you right to the weather center. this morning we have issues out there and more issues coming later tonight. there's a winter storm watch in effect in all those