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right now at 4:00, snow is on the way. >> i have to go out to go to work. i have to leave earlier. >> millions of americans bracing for a fierce winter snowstorm. >> my fear is we are going to have a foot of snow. >> 1400 flights have been canceled nationwide. >> hopefully this is the only one for 2014. good afternoon, everyone. i'm erika gonzalez in for pat lawson muse. >> i'm jim handly. hold on. winds are picking up, the cold air is blowing. in a mammoth winter storm is moving from the midwest to the northeast. this is a look of i-270, north

of gaithersburg. a wind advisory is in effect. we could see gusts up to 55 miles an hour. >> how much cold, snowy weather are we in for? >> we begin with veronica johnson and chief meteorologist doug kammerer are tracking the situation. >> we have been looking at the latest guidance over the last couple days. it is playing out, just earlier than we anticipated and the amounts may be higher in some locations. >> snow is accumulating to the west. tomorrow is when the cold air moves in. we are going talk about that in a second. >> that's right. as we look outside at the airport, you can see we have moisture on the lens. a lot of you seeing the snow flakes as we zoom in. the areas shaded in white is where it has been snowing. it has been snowing for more than an hour and a half. 70, 270, mt. airy seeing snow.

right now, we are seeing the snow accumulate, mainly on grassy areas. as the temperature drops hard tonight, it will be dropping fast. there could be slick spots on area roads. we have winter weather advisories to the north. loudoun an northern fauquier county. two to four inches, easily, in the forecast especially as you travel to the north. that's not all you get. doug? >> no, that's not all. this is a one-two punch. the first is the snow, then the wind. a wind advisory in effect for everybody with winds gusting over 40 miles per hour. we could see downed trees and power outages. itis not just the wind, it's the cold. windchills zero to negative ten. ten below to the west.

montgomery county, northern fauquier, out to the west. a windchill advisory tomorrow. that's what we can expect. here is the windchill. tomorrow morning, around 4:00, five in d.c., five in gaithersburg. at 7:00 a.m., a windchill below five in d.c. and near zero to the north and west. we are talking the coldest air we have seen in quite some time. that's not the first shot. we have another shot we will talk about later. >> if you see snowfalling across the area, make sure you get on twitter and send your reports. in a couple minutes, i'll be back to show you how much snow we are expecting across the entire area in your neighborhood and look at the impact on area roads. >> we'll check back in a bit. thank you both. millions of people will be impacted by the storm. here is a live look at the traffic picture in massachusetts. this is just south of boston. the storm is expected to bring a foot of snow to the boston region.

getting around will be trickier for drivers and pedestrians, too. strong winds will be a big factor there. this was the scene in chicago where the storm hit overnight. roads and sidewalks covered with snow and ice making it tricky for pedestrians and drivers there. more snow is on the way for those in chicago. a lake-effect snow warning is in effect for the chicago area until 6:00 tonight. the storm will also impact air travel. you are looking live at reagan national. we checked the faa.gov website. right now, there are 15 minute delays out of reagan and dulles international. if you are planning to fly to boston, new york or any city where the heavier snow is expected today and tomorrow, your flight could be canceled. check with the airline before leaving home. amtrak is operating on a regular schedule today. that could change as the weather changes. >> what about schools?

several schools are still on holiday break tomorrow. some schools canceled events tonight because of the weather. a few schools dismissed early as a precaution. news 4 today will begin at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow. we'll let you know what the roads look like and if your kids will have the day off school. >> now is a good time to download the storm team 4 weather app. you can get the latest alerts, live radar and your forecast anytime in the palm of your hand. download it free. today, police are trying to figure out what led to a crash between a metro bus and a woman in a wheelchair. it happened along mlk avenue near w street in southeast d.c. we are told the bus was making a right turn on to w street when it collided with a woman in an electric wheelchair. medics took the woman to an area hospital where she's expected to recover. no word on who had the right of

way. right now, police are investigating a bank robbery from sterling. it happened shortly after 9:00 a.m. at the pnc bank. witnesses describe the suspect at 5' 10" with a thin build and wearing a hat. police are working with witnesses to come up with more information. take a look at these pictures. police want to know in you recognize a man and woman suspected of stealing two diamond rings. it happened in rockville pike. the woman posed as a customer and distracted the store employee while the man took the diamond rings from a display case. there's a $10,000 cash reward. a mother accused of leaving her daughter is charged with child abuse and neglect. security officers in maryland

found her daughter in a car in the parking garage on new year's eve. they believe she had been there more than eight hours. this isn't the first time a parent has been accused of leaving their child alone while they gambled. find out how often it's happened. the most dangerous distractions on our roads whachlt is the most dangerous thing you can do behind the wheel? hackers break into social media accounts and steal information from more than 4 million users. this is a live look from cleveland, ohio at the snow and bitter cold. it is about to get wor

a new study of drivers in the area shows we are distracted 10% of the time we are behind

the wheel. itis not just texting that's putting people at risk. researchers at virginia tech study drivers in d.c. and southwestern virginia. they install video cameras, sensors and gps devices inside their cars. researchers found the act of reaching for their phone and eating raise the risk of a crash or near miss. the risk for young drivers increased seven-fold. the numbers are not that surprising. >> you see it so much you don't say there's anything different about it. that's what people do when they drive. >> what is surprising about the study, just talking on your phone is not as dangerous as previously thought. they didn't distinguish between use zing hands free or handheld devices. a heads up if you are driving in montgomery county, pass a stopped school bus and

pay a hefty fine. they have a camera to catch you. the county activated the cameras today. richard jordan has more on what happens if you get caught. >> reporter: the bus camera program was approved late last year and the buses were equipped with the cameras. now they are on the move. these cameras are rolling. today, 25 montgomery county school buses have coameras on board to catch drivers who don't stop when the bus stops. >> i think it's a great idea. i have seen people fly through. i think it's a great idea. it's the safety of our kids. >> reporter: the cameras won't always be on the same buses so you never know which one is ready to send out the ticket. >> the safety of our children are there. anything that can slow people down and get them to take a few minutes to getd the children on

the bus would be great. >> reporter: the montgomery county school district found more than 1,000 drivers a day failed to stop for the bus. some say they don't know when to stop. with the cameras comes a campaign. when a school bus is dropping off or picking up children and the stop sign is out, drivers in both directions must stop. the only exception is if there's a barrier or median between the two directions of traffic, those driving in the opposite direction don't need to stop. the fine for those getting caught is $125. that's a break compared to when a police officer catches you not stopping, that fine is $570. the school district says they hope they can bring down the number of accidents they see every year to zero. richard jordan, news 4. the daring helicopter rescue for passengers stuck in the antarctic ice for more than a

week. plus, heavy snow and frigid temperatures bearing down on the northeast. we have a live report from new york city.

out is a rocky start for stocks on this first trading day of 2014 despite sending 2013 at

record highs. today, they mark their first negative year. apple took the biggest hit. the dow lost 135, nasdaq dropped 34 and s&p 16. we are tracking the rescue of the ship off the antarctica. all passengers have been rescued. they got stuck on christmas eve. several rescue attempted failed and bad weather complicated the matters. the passengers are safe now, but they are a long way from being home free. sarah james has the latest details in the next half hour. as you know by now, a major snowstorm is expected to hit the region with heavy snowfall and frigid temperatures. veronica is here. you have been looking at this big picture. how is this going to impact us?

>> for us, we are talking moderate impacts around the area. we are likely to have trouble on area roads. areas to the north, this is a bigger deal. if you have any traveling up to the north, millions of people impicketed here for the northeast, new england, boston and new york city. >> how fast moving is this? >> this is a fast moving storm system. it will come with cold and wind that will be impacting everybody. in terms of school tomorrow, we talked about that earlier. i do think that some delays are likely. cancellations possible across the area. >> l lots of fingers and toes crossed there. >> let's go to sarah standing by. >> reporter: it may not be enough to keep up with this winter storm.

the new year is barrelling in with powerful winter storm hitting a large section of the country and taking aim at the northeast. the storm has already dumped heavy snow on the midwest and ohio valley, as much as a foot of snow or more is forecast for new england where temperatures are expected to plummet to below zero windchills. >> the temperatures will be extreme. that's a serious hazard. >> reporter: seasoned winter weather drivers are finding it tough going. >> my truck started tailgating and i have it in four wheel drive. >> i'm worried about everybody else on the roads. >> reporter: icy roads led to crashes. strong wind and snow created white-out conditions in ohio. in chicago, commuters braved several inches of snow and temperatures for the first full workday of the year. some of the coldest air settled over the border.

international falls, 40 below zero this morning earning the nickname, the icebox of the nation. meanwhile, the storm is disrupting air travel causing thousands of delays and flight cancellations. boston's logan airport is set to close this evening. the first storm of the year is not getting in the way of some people's new year's resolutions. already, hundreds of flights in the new york area have been canceled stranding passengers overnight. back to you. >> thanks. i cannot emphasize enough how dramatic of a change we are going to see with the temperatures tomorrow once the snow moves out. in terms of the snowstorm impacts slick roads and cancellations possible across the area. we'll come back to the radar and zoom in. everywhere in the white, you can see more intense white where the snow is coming down faster.

around 70 in howard county. gaithersburg, clarksville seeing heavier snow come down. all the areas to the north, including reston, reports of light snow and just north of bethesda. if you have reports of pictures, if you see it, tweet it. tweet it to us, vjohnson@nbc 4. let me take you to the future. we start with this evening at 7:00. there's the snow line, areas through southern maryland may see rain at times. of course, that's where the lighter amounts will be. by 11:00 p.m. and midnight, watch what happens. here is the snow around frederick, the back edge west around falls church. the low pressure off the coast. we are going to see wraparound by 1:00, 2:00 tomorrow morning. it's a fast push out of here. 5:00, 6:00 a.m., it's already hitting the bay with a cold air coming in and very windy

conditions. one to two inches in the forecast. southern prince george's county, calvert and st. mary's. one to two inches in the forecast for many neighborhoods by tomorrow with brutal temperatures and some high winds. that means with the wind, we could see scattered power outages. the windchill reading, below zero for a time period. there's the hypothermia risk for tomorrow. the high temperature 23 degrees for saturday. 35 we are at 42 degrees on sunday. sunday, late, it does look as though the temperatures will be high enough to deliver rain and not snow. you know what? on the other side of that system, we could see more cold air moving in. yet another wave in the second wave that hits us tuesday. maybe more intense than the wave we are getting right now.

our temperatures, again, next week could be in the 20s, taking another plunge. the snow system should be delivering about one to four inches across the area. in a couple minutes, an hourly forecast to take you through it into tomorrow morning. >> millions of accounts compromised after are filming tr

own hollywood documentry. there's new concern now about online security after two high profile attacks in the past 24 hours. skype, twitter and facebook accounts were hacked yesterday, using the hashtag associated with online activists who support the syrian regime. none of the user information was compromised for skype, but users of snapchat may have more to worry about. they have user names and partial phone numbers. they say the hack was meant to push snapchat to fix a known security flaw. brand-new this afternoon, demolition of sandy hook elementary school in connecticut is complete. construction of a brand-new school on the same site will

begin in late summer or early fall. >> several of the students affected by gun violence are tapping into their creative skills to help prevent such tragedies from happening again. they are working on a special documentary in southern california. greg takes a look. >> reporter: at high-tech high, talking during class is encouraged. the discussion going on here is serious. >> people lost family members. they lost people they love. i don't think it's fair, especially for something like this. >> reporter: this student is talking about the homework assignment given to the 45 students in this class. >> why is there so much gun violence in the united states and what we can do to reduce it. >> reporter: for these students and teachers, it's personal. >> two years ago, we lost a student. >> sean and his 13-year-old brother were shot and killed by their own father in a murder suicide. >> for me, personally, i lost

my, what i considered almost my niece. >> reporter: it's been a year since the sandy hook shootings wince her best friend's daughter was one of 20 children killed. >> they felt like they were tied of hearing adults fighting. >> reporter: it explains why they decided to produce a documentary. >> can you put in brackets, play video. >> reporter: from filming, to marketing and fund raising, they are doing it all. >> we need to raise $65,000. >> reporter: using kickstarter, they raised $20,000. >> project based learning allows the students to invest their learning in something that they are passionate about. >> a good day for overtime on this job. >> we understand we are high schoolers. >> reporter: high schoolers who know this topic personally, better than most. >> if nobody does it, when is there going to be a change?

we want to make a difference. we want to make an impact, positive impact on our community. that's the end goal. >> the group is hoping to finish the film this fall. he was ridiculed around the world, but today, rob ford defies calls for him to step down. we'll show you what he did instead. an update on former first an update on former first lady,

fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah. everybody knows that. did you know there is an oldest trick in the book? what? trick number one. look-est over there. ha ha. made-est thou look. so end-eth the trick. hey.... yes.... geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know.

how a book of personal obama photos was sent to a chicago woman by mistake. it's already starting to fall in the district, folks.

welcome back at 4:30, i'm jim handly. >> i'm erika gonzalez. cold, rain, snow, we have you covered. >> veronica is in the storm center, doug kammerer is out in it on the weather deck where the flakes are starting to fall. guys? >> that's right. for most of the area, they are seeing snow across, in neighborhoods. as we look outside, the snow has been falling for one to two hours and only sticking to grassy areas. as the sunsets, it will stick to the secondary roads. let's take a look at temperatures across the area. right now, folks -- let me go ahead and advance forward here. there we go. in terms of what you can expect, if we can take max one right now, we'll talk about the forecast here over the next couple hours. radar, of course, showing that moisture moving in.

you can see the rain/snow line. there's leesburg and gaithersburg where it's been snowing for awhile and accumulating. evening planner forecast, a chance of snow through your evening. look at 5:00 a.m. that's when the snow will be ending. look at the temperatures for your evening and overnight period. they drop to 36 degrees by 9:00. 33 by 11:00. then, we are going to be in the 20s early tomorrow morning. the 20s and falling fast. still, but that's not quite how it's going to feel across the area. doug kammerer is standing by on our weather deck right now with more. >> reporter: veronica, it is amazing what you are going to wake up to tomorrow morning. we are going to have snow on the ground. that's something everybody is going to see. at least one to two inches. some locations two to four inches. as it has snow continues to fall, the cold air is off to the west. i have a coat on now, but no need for a hat or gloves the next couple hours.

tomorrow is a different story. the winds will pick up. they will gust 40 miles per hour plus, maybe up to 50. that wind advisory is in effect until noon tomorrow. it includes everybody across the region. the windchill, montgomery county, frederick, northern fauquier and the west. windchills tomorrow morning between zero and ten below zero. these are some of the coldest windchills we have seen in quit. when you are not in the windchill advisory, you are windchill will be between zero and ten. we are talking some of the coldest we have seen in the last couple years. you will notice that huge difference tomorrow. we have the cold air coming in tomorrow. the snow is falling across the region. some areas are seeing the snow cover the roadways. we'll continue to watch for this. this is round one. we have another storm next week that will bring us even colder weather. veronica, back to you.

>> that's right. we are going to look at those temperatures coming up in a couple minutes with the seven day forecast as well as how much snow we are going to get, ending tomorrow morning. back to you in the studio. >> the first of what could be more just into the news room. all stafford county public schools open two hours late. now is a good time to download the storm team 4 weather app. down load it for free. police are trying to figure out what led to a crash between a metro bus and woman in a wheelchair. it happened on mlk avenue. the bus was making a right turn on to w street when it collided, at some point, with a woman in an electric wheelchair. the woman is expected to recover. do you recognize this man?

police are looking for him after a bank robbery in sterileling. it happened at the pnc bank. witnesses say he's 5' 10" with a thin build. a maryland mother is out on bail on charges of leaving her daughter outside a casino for eight hours while she gambled. security officers say they heard the 4-year-old crying. fortunately, she was not hurt. a new study shows that drivers are distracted 10% of the time that they are behind the wheel. researchers at virginia tech and national institutes of health studied drivers in the district. they installed video cameras, sensors and gps in their car. reaching for their phone, dialling, texting and eating raises the risk of a crash or near miss. >> montgomery county public school buses are equipped with

cameras. they are designed to catch drivers that pass buses when they are stopped to pick up students. drivers in both directions must stop if the bus' stop sign wing is activated. the fine is $125. you'll get a ticket in the mail. the affordable care act is facing the first test under consumers who bought policies under the law. this is day two of o obamacare coverage. news 4s steve handelsman is live with details. >> reporter: thanks, good evening. the number one goal of the affordable care act was to get insurance for the tens of have coverage. now that that coverage is taking effect, those who got the coverage, they are pleased. in northern virginia dale is happy.

despite high blood pressure, for the first time in a long time, he's got health insurance. for $141 a month, he gets a subsidy. >> i have obamacare. i was jumping up and down. i was excited. i thought i should have had this a long time ago. >> reporter: a big goal is less use of hospital emergency rooms by the uninsured who were seeking non-emergency care at everybody else's expense. tens of millions in america can now get it. >> they can go to doctors and be treated for conditions they may have been delaying care of postponing care for that it will really make a difference to how people use the health care system. >> reporter: a study finds, when the poor get insurance, many go to the e.r. more often. in beltsville, maryland, this 55-year-old has arthritis and other conditions. she needs lots of expensive medications. for a decade, she had no

insurance until an organization helped her sign up for obamacare. >> they talk about people who fall through the cracks. i fell through the cracks ten years ago, i'm finally going to get to dig my way out. >> reporter: tomorrow she goes to the doctor but no worry, she has health care. tomorrow, sonia sotomayer will decide if they can delay free birth control while they fight the requirement under obamacare. i'm steve handelsman, news 4. former first lady barbara bush is spending a fourth day in a hospital. she is being treated for a respiratory issue. jim mcgrath tweeted mrs. bush is still doing great, still in the hospital and, in his words, keen to get home to her dogs and her husband. a number of people are sending get well messages including the oba

obama's and clintons. she's 88 years old. rob ford is rob ford is running for c=çn.u;00kháeíp3 f1 smocrac onservativuze faced intense pressure to step down after a public confession he months but -- they have tripped the mayor months but -- they have tripped

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rock creek park is opening up another round of deer hunting. between now and march, they will try to reduce the deer population by 106. they say it's normal to have 15 to 20 deer per square mile. right now, there are 77 per square mile. the high population is hurting vegetation. ve venison will be given to food shelters. people may be getting delayed holiday girts, but can you imagine getting one from the obama family? personal photo albums of the obama family addressed to momma kay and papa wellington.

>> it was a beautiful, personal photo shop of shutterfully. >> what are some of the pictures? or are you not allowed to show them? >> we were wanting to keep it private for momma kay. private moments of their year, 2013 together. >> it's still not clear what led to the mail mix-up. church is working on getting that album to mama kay who is god mother to malia and sasha obama. >> peer pressure over food. what you eat could depend on what your friend orders. an 11-year-old girl's game of hide and seek goes wrong. >> we have snowfalling now. it's starting to stick to the roads around winchester and frederick, maryland. the coldest air in years begins

to move in. wait until you see how low

we have an update for anyone with weekend travel plans just into our live desk. let's go straight to wendy rieger. >> no surprise this storm is going to impact travel plans for the weekend. amtrak announced trains are

operating on a modified snow schedule tomorrow. the acela and regional trains. they are traveling between d.c. and boston. passengers can expect the frequencies of the trains to be lower than usual especially near new england. amtrak is offering refunds and vouchers for future trips for a passenger who decides they don't want to travel tomorrow. that's the latest from the live desk. back to you. >> this is going to be disruptive. stanford county public schools are going to have a two-hour delay. how much are we expecting to see and how much is falling. you can see it behind us. >> right now, one to forinches. a few neighborhoods may pick up more. an inch reported in per sellville, an inch in

lovettsville. hagger'stown, two and a half inches. we are getting the fig flakes now. again, winchester and frederick starting to stick on area roads. we said what happened as soon as the sunset and temperatures dropped off. take a look, folks. here is where it's going on the longest. leesburg, sandy hook, bluemont seeing the snow for two and a half hours or so. we have until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. columbia, maryland, around 29. it's probably going to be another two hours before it sticks. on 29, 95, seeing the big flames of snow come down. the temperatures are critical. all they had to do is take a drop. right now, they are at freezing in frederick, maryland. winchester, 30 degrees. the road temperatures are starting to drop as well with the air temperature. still hanging on to 38 in

fredericksburg, 39 pax river. the areas to the south, not expecting quite as much of snowfall. up to an inch,ing slightly more. look at the blue line through d.c., arlington, alexandria, one to two inches of snowfall the southern sections of loudoun county. two to four, a wide area seeing that. westminster, most of northern maryland. still looking at the pocket of northeastern maryland where four inches could fall. the wide area of two to four inches likely to lead to delays tomorrow morning and a few cancellations. brutal temperatures and wind may leave the high winds where they could gust 30 to 40 miles per hour. the strongest winds likely to come early. we could see power outages. as the temperatures drop, look at the windchill readings tomorrow. below zero to single digits. this is noontime tomorrow.

by 4:00, still in the single digits. manassas, warrenton, 16. for much of the day, this will be the type of weather, folks, we have not felt in a very, very long time. you can download the storm team 4 weather app going to google play or the itunes store. here is a look at the forecast for the weekend. improving. 35 saturday. we are dry. rain moving in on sunday, the high 42. then a chance for flurries on monday. cold air returns. we are going to have another frigid wave of cold moving in tuesday and wednesday next week. for now, snow continues to fall and it's starting to stick to area roads. we have more coming up on news 4 at 5:00. a gamers paradise. opening ceremonies for the mag fest kicked off several hours ago. mag stands for music and gaming. concerts and video games available to play 24 hours a

day. as many as 15,000 people are expected to attend for the games, panels, performances and other events through the end of the weekend. firefighters rescued an 11-year-old utah girl from an unusual place. the family washing machine. take a look. as you can imagine, the girl is a little more than embarrassed. she doesn't want her face or name on tv. the girl was playing a game of hide and seek. her mother says the kids called her and she could hear her daughter screaming in the back groun ground. they tried butter, peanut butter and ice, then she was warm so they poured water on her. >> firefighters had to remove the drier and cut a corner in the back so the door could open and the girl could climb out. fortunately, only a few bruises and is otherwise okay. i'm sure family members took

pictures and facebook posts. >> she won't try that again. what you choose to eat could depend on what your friends are having. british researchers looked at the influence peer pressure has. it can affect how much you eat. in the study, people who were told that other participants were having a high calorie meal, they made the same choice. the same was true when they were told the others were eating light. it influenced choices when folks were dining alone. your likelihood for suffering from asthma could depend on your zip code and paycheck. for families here in the nation's capitol, getting the help they need is a challenge. ericaedwards talks to a family coping with this chronic disease. >> reporter: the water runs non-stop in her tiny one-bedroom

apartment. the result? mold. >> it's all up at top. >> reporter: it's one of the many things in this living environment that makes it hard for them to breathe. both have severe asthma. it inflames and narrows air waves. >> my chest gets real tight. i can't make air come through. >> reporter: they live in one of the poorest sections of washington, d.c., where they are not alone in their struggles with asthma, a disease that affects people living in poverty, especially children. >> i hate the doctor. >> reporter: not surprising for a 5-year-old who has to have allergy shots. children living in poverty are 60% more likely to have asthma than families with higher incomes. >> environments where you have poor nutrition, violence, you are constantly exposed to

environmental factors such as air pollution. you are going to have increased incidents of asthma. >> reporter: he's worked extensively with them. he says cigarette smoking prevalent in urban housing. >> the environment itself, with the increased incidents of house dust, cockroaches and allergens around contribute to the factor. >> reporter: another obstacle, getting to the right doctor. kids in southwest d.c. have the highest asthma rates in the city. very few doctors specializing in asthma are in the community. they must travel ten miles to see this doctor at howard university hospital. >> for them to have to come on the bus all the way here and it's not easy. >> reporter: patients need continuous care to control their

asthma. >> they see the children getting better and stop coming. then they come back when things deteriorate. >> reporter: for savannah, continuous care is weekly allergy shots. with that, an often difficult mission accomplishes for this young mother and daughter. erica edwards, nbc news. dramatic rescue at sea after

amazing story to tell. that's next. 52 scientists, tourists and journalists are on their way home after a nine-day ordeal in antarctica. itis going to be a long trip home, but they completed the most important leg, getting off the ship. the passengers were rescued today in an operation that required international cooperation. sarah james reports. >> reporter: it was a sound more welcome this new year's than the pop of a champaign cork. >> the helicopter is here to take us home. >> thanks, everyone. >> reporter: this helicopter from a chinese ship, ferrying the first dozen people from a russian vessel to meet an australian ice cutter, a massive, complicated mission. the rescue, a relief for 52 passengers stuck since christmas day. several ice cutters tried and failed to plow through the

thick, shifting ice. the passengers pounded that ice into a helipad as they belted out seasonal tunes. today, shifting ice nearly scuttled the mission again. overnight, rescue teams opted to take advantage of clear skies and the passengers took off, homeward bound. meantime, the passengers won't actually step food on australian soil until probably mid january because the ship has a scheduled stop to resupply a base in antarctica. they will return before the crew of the russian ship, they are staying with their vessel, stuck in the ice. back to you. right now at 5:00, a monster winter storm. more than 90 million people across the midwest and the