setting up some surprises. well, good morning on this presidents' day. we begin with the political fallout on the sudden death of supreme court justice antonin scalia. >> with the balance of the supreme court at stake, both sides of the aisles are gearing up for a fight. >> there are new details this morning on the days and hours leading up to scalia's death. he died of natural causes saturday at a texas ranch during a quail hunting trip. senate republicans are calling for a replacement to be selected by the next president. but president obama already said that he intends to fill the seat when the senate returns from the recess. >> the body of the 79-year-old justice is believed to have arrived at dulles airport near washington overnight on a private plane from austin. a first-time guest at that

his body was discovered in his room after he missed breakfast and lunch. abc's jim avila is there. he spoke with one of the people who saw him last. >> reporter: the high of end hunting lodge and ranch was host this weekend of an exclusive group of mostly texan couples. justice scalia was the only famous guest. he arrived friday about noon. toured the property. did not join that day's hunt. but he had dinner with the group overlooking the scenic lake. >> at about 9:00 p.m., he said, it's been a long day, had a long week, i'd like to be excused. >> reporter: others told 79-year-old justice mention an illness. the county judge who pronounce him dead over the phone told abc news that she talked to his doctor in washington told her he'd been ill. and came to his office wednesday and thursday before the trip. the scalia family, his nine

says, objected to an autopsy. and after talking with sheriff investigators and u.s. marshals on the scene, she agreed one was not necessary. >> any signs of foul play could have easily caused, that i asked for an autopsy. >> reporter: instead, the county judge said the death certificate will read natural causes, due to his heart stopping. jim avila, abc news, in west texas. this morning, justice scalia is being remembered as a conservative icon. of course, he served on the high court for some 30 years. >> and he led the charge to take constitutional law back to what he called its original meaning. scalia developed a reputation of being bold, brash and unafraid to speak his mind. now the battle lines are drawn over who should pick his replacement. latest on the showdown in washington. >> reporter: good morning. justice scalia's vacancy on the court is sure to be a big topic

trail today. we've got several candidates campaigning in south carolina while here in washington, we wait. within an hour of the supreme court confirming scalia's death, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell declared that this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. but president obama made it clear he's ready to move. >> i plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibility to name a new successor. >> reporter: both sides have reason to fight. how it could shift the balance on the supreme court, which without scalia is split 4-4. >> so now, this next appointment will be critical for some important decisions that are coming down the pipe. >> reporter: including decisions regarding abortion, immigration. that adds a new dimension to this year's presidential race. >> it is outrageous that republicans in the senate and on the campaign trail have already pledged to block any replacement that president obama nominates.

up mcconnell in saturday night's debate. >> it's called, delay, delay, delay. >> reporter: senator ted cruz on "this week" vowing to filibuster if necessary. >> we should not let a lame-duck to capture the supreme court in the waning months of his presidency. >> who might the president nominate? two names jane kelly and sri srinavasan. >> megan, what is next in the nomination process, what do we expect? >> well, we're waiting for the president to announce whose his nominee is, then the ball goes over to senate republicans and leadership needs to decide whether or not they are indeed going to hold confirmation hearings, that is the big question right now. >> seems like a long fight. thank you so much. presidents, politicians and colleagues are reflecting on

liberal justice ruth bader ginsburg said that they were best buddies. even though disagreed on the bench, the two justices were known to hang out often, even vacation together with their families. >> former president george w. figure, an important one. he hits the campaign trail today, he'll join his brother jeb at an event in south carolina. this comes after a blistering attack on the bushes from donald trump. trump accused the former president of ignoring the cia and destabilizing the middle east by invading iraq. now, according to the latest poll, trump has a commanding lead in south carolina, with 42% of the vote. >> on the democratic side, something of a campaign concidence involving "hot topics" and bernie sanders. they attended the same service. there's no video of the meeting. they both addressed the congress

nevada extremely close, hillary clinton canceled a trip in order to stay in nevada. sanders takes his campaign to michigan today. we switch gears now to the cold. bitterly cold in the northeast today. bostonians woke to the coldest morning in nearly 60 years, 9 degrees below zero. transit and commuter rail service disrupted when rails shattered in the cold. there were also delays at logan airport because of cold weather problems with equipment. and new york city saw its lowest february temperature since 1963, one degree below zero. and three degrees below the valentine's day record set a century ago. but the bitter cold didn't stop valentine's day tradition in the big apple -- weddings in times square. they'll remember that. and further west, this was the scene, heavy snow in chicago and its surrounding areas. it's continuing into this morning's commute.

and traffic was snarled on area highways. in indiana, two multiple vehicle pileups on the roads. well, what's in store for those of us on the east coast today, the only consolation is, it will be get warmer. >> let's get the complete weather forecast right now from paul williams at accuweather. >> good morning to you as well. we have an ice storm that's on the way. affecting the folks in the deep south, throughout virginia going into north carolina, covering charlotte, roanoke, as well as charlottesville, dangerous travel and power outrages connectsed to this. widespread flooding in jackson. a really crummy way to start monday. >> a meteorological term.

coming up -- kanye west reaching out to a billionaire for help. but first, pope francis in mexico, why some see his message as controversial. and the so-called diamond diva and how she reportedly trained for months to get ready for her robbery run. until i realized how much our digestive systems handle during winter. 90 stressful days juggling hectic schedules. over 40 meals of heavy comfort foods like baked mac & cheese. no wonder after all that our digestive systems can act up. so try the activia two week challenge! enjoying activia twice a day for two weeks may help reduce the frequency of bloating, gas, discomfort or rumbling. try it! it works in two weeks or it's free. dannon in our house, imagination runs wild. but at my table, i keep the food real. like country crock's recipe made with real simple ingredients. and no artificial flavors or preservatives. real country fresh taste from real ingredients.

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the plane was heading for new york city and virgin said one of the pilots reported a medical issue, apparently linked to the laser strike. passengers were put up for the night and will fly to new york later on today. expect another powerful message from the pope today, his visit to mexico takes him to the state where there are many migrants who travel through that area trying to reach the u.s. border. >> and yesterday in mexico city, onlookers cheered as pope francis passed by his small hard-top fiat. the pope wading into the crowd and touching the faithful. before that, there was this emotional moment, the pope visit a children's hospital where a young cancer patient sang to him. >> it's beautiful. >> very touching moment there. very touching visit.

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especially difficult as you can imagine. firefighters called in salt trucks so they could have better footing. roads may be slippery today throughout the northeast and in parts of the northern plains and western mountains. flooding could be a problem for drivers throughout the south. roads will be wet in the pacific northwest. and if you're flying, airport delays are likeliest in new orleans, atlanta, charlotte, washington, new york and boston. under investigation this morning, a deadly crash in philadelphia and its possible link to a feature on the popular app snapchat. >> three young women died in the crash last deember when their car hit a tractor-trailer at high speed. police are investigating whether miles per hour app on snapchat may have played a roll. one of the uncles of the victims believed it did. >> one friend told me she was

night, their speed. how fast they were driving. >> a snapchat spokesperson told abc news it warns users not to snap and drive. a former new york state governor who left office in disgrace is now under investigation by police. sources say a 25-year-old claims that eliot spitzer tried to choke her at the plaza hotel in manhattan. the pair apparently had a romantic relationship for two years. spitzer resigned in 2008 after being involved in a prostitution scandal. new details this morning about the so-called diamond diva who gained notoriety of robbing jewelry stores. they said abgoal kemp trained for months after stealing $4 million worth of jules from six stores. the documents say during that training, she learned how to handle a gun, how to tie people up using zip ties. kemp and three others are under arrest. all are facing up to 20 years in

and off the east coast of florida, tens of thousands of sharks, take a look. you can see them on the left side of your screen here. all those dots that you see there, making their migration north. they shot the footage from the air. these are black-tipped sharks which are usually only six feet long. despite the huge numbers, there are very few shark bites from them. all right, let's get to some nba action. the nba doesn't get back to meaningful games until thursday night. >> last night, the league held its annual shooting practice, also known as the all-star game details now from espn. kobe bryant's final all-star game was played last night in toronto. >> and they just quit scoring three minutes ago. let's take a look at the nearly 200 points that were scored by one team. >> oh.

game, loving up another former great laker, magic johnson, he and bill russell talked about going to dinner in l.a. second quarter, lebron was going to lock down on defense and kobe that was the only shot that wasn't made. kobe finished with 10 points, 4 of 11 shooting, 26 minutes. you see there -- he got in there. good for kobe. so he had his ten. but that fellow, last year's mvp, russell westbrook dominated. he's superstrong. tomahawk dunk. and as you see, minimal resistance from dwyane wade. he'll be the mvp for the second straight year. there's your scoreboard. 196-173. the west wins. they were scoring regularly. how about chase elliot, just 20 years old. that's not jeff gordon anymore

retired. elliott wins the pole for the daytona 500, which takes place on february the 21st. again, the youngest pole winner at the age of 20. >> at 20, i'm not sure i will have my kid have a car yet. >> 196 points, they just stopped scoring in the nba all-star game. >> that's all we have for this morning. coming up -- kanye west looking for help, releasing his new album and going on a major twitter rant overnight. and how the brits handled the hollywood diversity controversy. diverseity controversy.one can go ...except you. opioid-induced constipation, oic, is a different type of constipation, which may need a different approach. longing for a change? have the conversation with your doctor about oic,

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leonardo dicaprio picked up the best actor trophy. the revenant ended up winning five awards in total. and since it was valentine's day, the brits rolled out the kiss cam for the bafta wards. first up, was stanley tucci and cuba gooding jr. perhaps most interesting pairing was maggie smith and leonardo dicaprio. look at that, he does it. >> she went back for seconds. >> she's always a lady. what can i say. next up, kanye west going on a rather lengthy twitter rant overnight. plenty to say about a lot of stuff. >> yeah, a headlinemaker quote, i write this to you my brothers while still $53 million in personal debt. please pray we overcome, this is my true heart. kanye west, husband of kim

the tune of 53 million. >> okay, folks, if you're skeptical at home, there's a lot of other people skeptical, too. no way to be true. also included in the rant, kanye asked facebook chief mark zuckerberg to give him a call today. maybe he can help. >> he went on and on. >> this is definitely not kim k.'s neiman-marcus bill. >> but, let's help kanye out. he needs a payday loan. >> you start. we're getting a preview of the highly anticipated reboot of ghostbusters. the 28-second teaser shows no signs of its main stars, melissa mccarthy, kristen wiig or kate mckinnon. >> but it's choke full of chaos in manhattan. it asks the iconic question -- who you going to call? >> we know the answer. the timing of the teaser is no

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checking our top stories -- the body of supreme court justice antonin scalia is believed to have been flown back to dulles airport outside washington. scalia died in his sleep at a hunting trip. he was 79. scalia's death setting off a political showdown, republicans looking to block president obama but the president says he plans to nominate a replacement soon. but don't try to mail a letter to congress today with your thoughts of his replacement, post offices are closed for presidents' day. looking at today's weather. rain in washington state, snow in the western mountains and upper plains, severe storms in the south and snow moving into the northeast this morning. and finally, from us, a look back at the life and legacy justice antonin scalia had. >> scalia is being remembered as

larger than life figure on the bench as well as off. more now from abc's terry moran. >> reporter: for decades, justice antonin scalia led the charge to take constitutional law back, he says, to its original meaning. >> the constitution is not meant to facilitate change. it is meant to impede change, to make it difficult to change. >> reporter: on that score, perhaps his greatest triumph, his ruling in 2008 on the right to bear arms, where he brushed aside concerns about gun violence in america. it's not the role of this court to pronounce the second amendment extinct, he wrote. another victory, bush versus gore. awarded george w. bush the presidency. >> we owe no apology whatever for bush versus gore. we did the right thing. so -- so, there. [ laughter ] >> reporter: in dissent, he was biting, caustic, clear.

for the second time last year, scalia sneered, we should start calling this law scotus care. in other arguments, lawyers feared his pointed questions. and he challenged the idea that the court could create a right to gay marriage, after 200 years of laws banning it. >> when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? when did the law become this? >> reporter: his death leaves the court shorthanded and divided on key issues. the stakes could not be higher. especially since once of those four conservatives justice anthony kennedy swings to the liberal side unpredictability. terry moran, abc news, mexico city. >> a man passionate about his

>> reporter: we'll hear m 3 3pattie just ahead, we'll look at road the area as you prepare for your morning drive in. we're live from lynchburg to the southside. pattie and the weather is being blamed for this wreck in lynchburg... how the driver morning..pattie plus, how the death of a supreme court justice could affect the future of the court. 3 3 3 3pattie tight good morning virginia. it is monday, february 15th, 2016. i'm pattie martin. thanks for starting your day with us. 3pattie it's not only cold this morning....but there's a lot of snow out there. pattie tight and this morning, we have the latest and most up-to-date information on the snow that is coming down

kosar abdi is following the latest conditions in lynchburg. vallerie bragg is tracking it all in danville. but first we're going to send it over to meteorologist melissa lefevre who's in the weather center with the latest on the snowfall. melissa? 3 3 3 3temperatures are holding steady in the upper teens and lower twenties. the snow will continue to fall and accumulate through the morning hours. it's going to be a messy monday as we'll see a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. high temperatures reach the upper 20s and lower 30s. timing: snow continues to fall through the morning, with a transition to sleet and freezing rain this afternoon and evening. a7 accumulations: snowfall totals will be the highest in the nrv and the highlands. lesser amounts south and east. a7 nrv/highlands: 5-9", isolated higher amounts possible, with minimal icea7 lynchburg and central va: 2- 5" of snow; plus .10-.20" of ice.a7 southside: 1-3" of snow; plus .20-.25" of ice. impacts: travel will be tricky monday and most of tuesday. it is important to note that anything over a quarter inch of ice accumulation (.25") will cause isolated to scattered power outages. be ready and have a plan in case you lose power. the freezing rain will transition to all rain after midnight as temperatures begin to rise. rain continues into tuesday