going to be one of the busiest travel days of the year and it's only going to get worse because as rob marciano is standing by to tell us, there is more snow and there is more cold on the way, is there not? >> yes, there is. but we're still talking about this christmas day blizzard. it had slowed down, run into pockets of cold air and had scenes of this, icy conditions and center of the low into canada but the tail end across the deep south. we are not quite done with this just yet. overnight, the storm system that blasted the northern plains with heavy snow and ice on christmas moving east creating a holiday week travel nightmare. in new england freezing rain creating icy roads, cars overturned in new hampshire and springfield, massachusetts. >> on the on-ramp it was very slippery, and i was watching cars slide into each other. >> reporter: winds over 60 miles per hour ripping the roof off this barn in vermont while in

>> rob marciano with us again tonight. rob, thank you. >>> in the meantime, we move onto now to president-elect donald trump. a fierce war of wos, intelligence community when it comes to russian hackers. and whether they tried to disrupt america's election. abc's tom llamas in washington. >> reporter: tonight, republican leaders in congress breaking with president-elect trump, announcing they will investigate whether russia used hackers to try and influence the election, something trump doesn't believe happ happened, even though the director of national intelligence said it did. >> they have no idea if it's russia or china or somebody. it could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. >> reporter: today, trump tweeting, "unless you catch hackers in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. why wasn't this brought up before the election?" but it was. in october, 17 american government intelligence agencies, including the cia, released this rare statement, saying, "the u.s. intelligence community is con

all right, rob marciano with us tonight. rob, thank you so much. >>> we move now to breaking news coming in tonight of a new christmas terror plot just thwarted. multiple arrests in melbourne, australia. and it comes after the xlas market terror in berlin. for the first time right here tonight, we're seeing video showing the moment the truck barrelled into that market, killing 11 people. we've now learned two americans are among the injured. a global manhunt for the suspect, a 24-year-old, and authorities today revealing his fingerprints were found in the cab of the truck. abc news learning the suspect was, in fact, known to u.s. intelligence. abc's matt gutman in berlin tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the first images of that truck barreling towards the christmas market. moments later, can you see people fleeing in panic. and now, prosecutors say they're almost certain it was this man, anis amri, who was driving, that he hijacked the truck, killed its original driver, and plowed into the market. they say his fingerprints were

so, let's get right to meteorologist rob marciano, tracking it all for us. hey, rob. >> reporter: hi, david. another day here in the south. so, we begin there. severe line of thunderstorms rolling across into the carolinas. a tornado warning out right now for charlotte, north carolina, a dangerous situation there. you certainly want to be taking cover. and these storms roll all the way down into the florida panhandle. with the bad has come the good, though. five inches of record-breaking rain in knoxville. some of that getting into the fire zone, helping that situation for sure. tomorrow morning, the heavy rain moves into the northeast. some wintry precip in through maine and heavy rain through boston. by tomorrow, it moves offshore, and finally, some quiet weather for two days. that will be good. david? >> rob marciano, thanks, as always. >>> we also have new reporting tonight after that deadly plane crash. the horrific scene, that team celebrating a cinderella season, then almost every one of them dying on that flight. the charter flight going down in bad w

let's get right to meteorologist rob marciano. he's in springville, new york, with more on this system. rob? >> reporter: david, the snow, as you can see, is blowing sideways. already a foot on the ground. which means in parking lots like, this mounds are piling you. all the great lakes, all very warm, all open for business with lake effect. cleveland is in it. portland, winter storm warning, as that pacific storm moves into the arctic air. look at the numbers. going to feel like minus 25 in bismarck. 20 in birmingham. that cold does stick around. lake effect snow warnings here, david, until saturday. >> still saturday. rob marciano, perhaps until april. in the meantime, we move next tonight, to the dramatic prison break in south carolina. the new images coming in this evening. michael womeilliamson serving l in prison, caught on surveillance here at a walmart. he's accused of stabbing a female police officer there. and then, trying to break into an elementary school later. and you'll see the new images of that, right here tonight.

>> rob marciano with us again tonight. thanks, rob. >>> we're going to turn back overseas this evening, and to our continuing reporting on syria. disturbing images coming in from aleppo all day today. reports of a possible cease-fire back in place, but this one, after the one just last night fell apart. followed by images like this one. heavy shelling blocking thousands of families from evacuating the city. and in paris at this hour, the eiffel tower dark for the people of aleppo. abc's alex marquardt tonight, who just left syria. >> reporter: the deal didn't even get off the ground before it died. heavy bombardment resuming today in eastern aleppo. dashing hopes that desperate civilians would be bussed to safety, and the remaining rebel fighters taken out of the city. the fighting so intense, aid workers had to cross back into government-controlled aleppo for safety. >> it's just constant explosions in the air. and then, all of a sudden, it's a full-blown battle once again. >> reporter: the rebels still hold a tiny sliver

let's get right to rob marciano, he's live along the west side highway here in new york tonight for the forecast. hey, rob. >> reporter: hi, david. as you know, the frozen tundra of green bay, no stranger to snow. let's take a look. the fist one spinning into southern california tonight. the second one is bigger, we'll have more widespread rain and mountain snow there in through friday and saturday. very difficult driving conditions. but both of these are going to pump up the warm air into the u.s. look at the temperatures come christmas day, into the 40s, 50s and 60s. some spots were below zero earlier this week. david? >> i spotted 74 in new orleans. let's go. all right, rob marciano, thanks. >>> the holiday shopping crunch is on tonight. millions of last-minute shoppers feeling the pressure. but there is still time to get some pretty good deals. and some of the items you can order up until 9:45 on christmas eve. correspondent rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: tonight, tis the season to procrastinate. how many last-minute shoppers do we have here? >> one. >> reporter: three of four shopper

abc's senior meteorologist rob marciano is here with the forecast.t are you looking at. >> as tough as it is it's good news for california. they had a bad drought and the wettest december in six years for los angeles. the core of the rain is through arizona and snow across i-40. part of that shut down. watch this wind up as the rain turns to snow in salt lake city. blizzard for the dakotas and we're concerned about icing conditions, minneapolis, north and west of there could see power outages and a foot of snow from bismarck through the black hills. difficult travel but for some it will be a white christmas. >> rob marciano, thanks. >>> next tonight, hollywood reacting to carrie fisher's medical emergency. co-stars saying they're shocked and saddened. the "star wars" actress going into cardiac arrest on a flight. the crew aboard the flight performing cpr. abc's adrienne bankert has the very latest from los angeles. >> reporter: tonight, iconic actress carrie fisher remains in the intensive care unit surrounded by family following friday's in-flight e

let's get right to meteorologist rob marciano. he's in springville, new york, with more on this system. rob? >> reporter: david, the snow, as you can see, is blowing sideways. already a foot on the ground. which means in parking lots like this, mounds are piling up well over my head. check out the radar. all the great lakes, all very warm, all open for business with lake effect. now cleveland, you're in it, and will continue to be. to the west we go. portland, winter storm warning, as that pacific storm moves into this arctic air, which is going to hang around. look at these numbers tomorrow morning. going to feel like minus 25 in north dakota, minus 2 in indianapolis, 9 in minnesota. 20 in birmingham. that cold does stick around. lake effect snow warnings here, david, until saturday. >> until saturday. rob marciano. perhaps until april. >>> in the meantime, we move next tonight, to the dramatic prison break in south carolina. the new images coming in this evening. michael williamson serving life in prison, breaking free, caught on

rob marciano is here tracking it all. what are you looking at, rob? >> take a look at the piece. the snow is heavy across the north. and last night, across texas and louisiana, have a look. tonight, gulf coast residents bracing for more of heavy rain soaking communities. galveston getting a record. and over a foot of rain swoampig these cars. others forced to abandon their vehicles. >> i was watching tow trucks one after another. son on a bridge. firefighters having to use a ladder to pull them to safety. meanwhile, winter blanketing shelbiville, montana, with snow. >> and rob is here with the forecast. how much snow has falling so far? >> over six inches in some spots. we have the snow across the northeast, and flooding and another round of rain expected in texas and louisiana. flooding an issue there. and the snow here, north of i-80, i-84, it will be a slick go, a few inches. and this week, 23 degrees in memphis, it slides east on friday and saturday, by far the >> thank you. >>> and we still have much more ahead on "world news tonight" this sunday. witnesses coming forward in

so, for what's next on this storm system, leftt's bring in abc's rob marciano. hey, rob. >> reporter: hi, tom. a couple of concerns tonight. the severe weather in the south. icy conditions in the northeast. so, we'll start there. you can see some sub-freezing temperatures along the i-90 corridor, so, next couple of hours will be treacherous. and then the back side of this, the southern side, that's where the severe thunderstorms are popping up. a couple of tornado warnings earlier today as this thing crosses the mississippi river. nashville, in through louisville, that's where we'll see maybe some flash flooding tonight. but look at these high temperatures today. 78 in memphis. 76 degrees in louisville. that's an all-time record, ties it for the month of december. extremely warm temperatures. this pushes off to the east tomorrow, promises to be a quieter day, though, across the east. >> all right, a lot going on with weather. rob, thanks so much. >>> next, to that christmas night stunner. pop superstar george michael found dead at the age of 53. the exact cause,

let's get right to rob marciano. hey, rob. >> hi, david. this next system will impact the tornado and flooding zone. but will affect texas first. look at the maps in motion. winter weather across texas. 3 to 7 inches of rain from austin to atlanta. and when that system moves out, winter moves in. arctic air dropping in, windchills below zero for the first time this year. get ready for some cold, david. >> rob, thank you. >>> and we're tracking some pictures in the newsroom after word of a building collapsing, people trapped. and tonight, we've learned that a woman underneath the rubble used her cell phone to make a lifesaving call. here's linsey davis. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: an eruption of cheers this afternoon, as rescue workers pulled this woman from the rubble of a collapsed building today. thanks, in part, to a phone call with her mother. officials say the 22-year-old talked on the phone with her mom as crews feverishly worked to locate her. >> we know roughly where she is. she can't see daylight. so we know that means she

who is in for rob marciano this morning. lucky for her, we sent her out to new york's central park on the coldest morning of the year. kait, take it away. >> lucky for me, the temperature went up about ten degrees overnight. so that's a good thing. if you're trying to get the holiday photos, go out early. because we're going to see the warm front will move up the east coast. that rain will come down on top of the snow, melting quite a bit of the snow. if you hear rumbling. we have snowplows going by. you have a cold front. it comes in behind the warm front. along that, you'll see rain. be on the lookout for freezing rain. we have seen plenty of that. please be careful driving out there. hey, how about the cold blast. you thought it was cold now, hey. 43 below zero for a wind chill. sunday, 42 below is what it will feel like in minneapolis. 11 below in chicago. on monday, chicago, you feel like 24 degrees below zero. that's a rough start to the work week getting this next week started. we might get the coldest bears game on r

let's go to rob marciano with more. >> reporter: the snow reaching all the way to new york and the northeast cities. this is a large but thankfully the storm into canada, that means the snow should turn into rain tomorrow. but northward into new england, it will be mostly snow. 6 to 10 inches from detroit, new york, and new england. and here comes the big cold. tuesday, 20 below across the dakotas, and below freezing windchills in chicago for 24 hours. and the really cold stuff gets into the northeast on friday. tom? >> rob, thank you. >>> let's turn to politics now. members of congress from both parties are calling for an investigation as to whether russia tried to influence the american elections. tonight, new recporting on who n the trump family may be moving to washington. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump is digging in, blasting a "new york times" report that russi ru russia interfered with the election. >> i think the democrats are bringing it up because they lost >> reporter: news that both democrats and republicans were targeted, but only information hacked from d

let's go to rob marciano with more. hey, rob >> reporter: hi, tom. the snow reaching all the way to new york and the northeast cities. this is a large but thankfully fast-moving system. but from i-70 north, it's difficult travel. the storm heading into canada, that means the snow should turn into rain tomorrow. but albany northward into north new england, it will be mostly snow. pockets 6 to 10 inches from detroit, new york, and new england. and maybe some ice across a appalachia. and here comes the big cold. tuesday, 20 below across the dakotas, and below freezing windchills in chicago for 24 hours. and the core of the really cold stuff gets into the northeast on friday. tom? >> rob, thank you. >>> let's turn to politics now. members of congress from both parties are calling for an investigation into whether russia tried to influence the american elections. the president-elect has his doubts. meanwhile, mr. trump is standing by rex tillerson, the likely secretary of state nominee. mr. trump has his doubts. tonight, new reporting on who in the trump

senior meteorologist rob marciano joins us now. rob, adrienne just said it.here's another blast moving in? >> reporter: it's already cold now. a second wave coming this week but before that happens we've got more snow coming to the areas that got 30 inches plus some big cities. snow now reaching to chicago and milwaukee. it will spread towards detroit, cleveland and pittsburgh during the day tomorrow could see several inches of snow. it will snow in new york city to start and change over to rain by monday morning. north of i-90 could see a foot or more. maybe chicago and detroit as well. look at these numbers, wind chills well below zero across the midwest thursday morning and well below freezing into the deep south. deep freeze well to the end of the week. this is the coldest stuff, cecilia, in two years. >> rob, get inside, thank you. >>> we want to turn to our other top story. donald trump's cabinet. exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson emerging as the likely pick for that all important secretary of state post. tonight critics now calling into question his ties t

. >> we are bracing for that, senior meteorologist rob marciano joins us now. rob, adrian just said it. there's another blast moving in? >> reporter: it's already cold now. a second wave coming this week but before that happens we've got more snow coming to the areas that have 30 inches plus some big cities. snow now reaching into chicago and milwaukee. that will intensify and spread over to detroit, cleveland and pittsburgh during the day we could see several inches of snow. it will snow in new york city to start but change over to rain along the i-95 corridor monday morning away from interstate 90 it looks to be pretty heavy. you can see a foot in some spots and the cold stuff hits the deep south with wind chills below zero across the midwest and below freezing well down into georgia and atlanta. cecilia. >> you'll be tracking it all. get inside, rob. top story. donald trump's cabinet. exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson emerging as the likely pick for that all important secretary of state post. tonight critics now calling into question his ties to russian president

. >>> let's get right to rob marciano in times square, with the new year's eve forecast. >> it's been cold and windy all day long in times square. some snow showers streaming off the great lakes. as the crowds get going in anticipation of 2017. tomorrow another system come through, mostly in boston and new england with some showers. look for rain across atlanta and new orleans. and in times square, it will be a lot more busy tomorrow for sure. tom? >> thank you. >>> and in denver a ski lift fall by a mother and her children. clayton sandell in colorado for us. >> reporter: at this ski resort in granby, colorado, the quickdraw ski lift was shut down after a deadly fall. >> ems station one, responding to ski granby ranch, for three patients that fell from the chair lift, approximately 25 feet. >> reporter: those three patients, 40-year old kelly huber, riding with and her 9 and 12-year-old daughters. all rushed to a hospital. kelly hu bhrks er did not survive. >> their chair hit the pole or hit the sign, and it ejected all three people off the lift. >> reporter: inspectors and police ar

rob marciano has more. >> reporter: tonight, gulf coast residents bracing for more of this. heavy rain soaking communities. from louisiana across southeast texas. this weekend, galveston getting a record. and over a foot of rain swamping these cars. the lights of swamped cars flickering. others forced to abandon their vehicles. >> i was watching tow trucks one after another. >> reporter: rivers rising quickly in san antonio. flood water stranding this driver and her son on a bridge. firefighters having to use a ladder to pull them to safety. meanwhile, winter blanketing the midwest. in chicago, the winter weather forcing planes to be de-iced. >> rob is here. give us the bad news. >> well, across southeast texas and southwest louisiana, the rain will get another round coming. in the next 24 hours, maybe more severe weather as well. and everyone else going to get a piece of this cold air coming by the end of next week. getting into the deep south as well. friday and saturday of next week, everybody gets a piece of it. the coldest air of the season, by far. >> thank you. >>> an

. >>> let's get to rob marciano, with your eye on two different storms tonight. >> we've been tracking these for a couple days, and they're just as potent as forecast. chicago, milwaukee. by the time it gets to detroit and pittsburgh, to boston, heavy rain. christmas eve, a blizzard warning coast. and the christmas day blizzard, the east side will be pumped up warm. mixed reviews on that front. >> thank you. >>> and breaking news in the west, a midair medical emergency for carrie fisher, famous for her roles in the star wars movies. suffered a massive heart attack on the way from london to l.a.x. david wright with the news coming in at this hour. >> reporter: a medical emergency at 30,000 feet for actress carrie fisher. >> united 935 heavy, i need the nature of the medical emergency. >> reporter: the united airlines flight from london to los angeles was just about to land at noontime today, when fisher suffered a massive heart attack. >> we have some passengers, nurses assisting the passenger. we have an unresponsive passenger. so they're working on her right now. >> reporter: a fellow

. >>> let's get right to rob marciano, in times square, with the new year's eve forecast. rob? >> tom, it has been windy and much colder all day long in times square. even some snow showers streaming off the great lakes. as the crowds get going in anticipation of 2017. tomorrow, another system coming through, mostly in boston and new england with some rain and snow showers. temperatures a little bit warmer e, seasonally cold. look for rain across atlanta and new orleans. and some rare rain across southern california for the performances there. and in times square, it will be a lot more busy tomorrow for sure. tom? >> rob, thank you. >>> next tonight, the deadly fall at a ski resort outside denver. a her -- mother killed, her two daughters hurt. plunging from the chair lift. clayton sandell in colorado for us. >> reporter: at this ski resort in granby, colorado, the quickdraw ski lift was shut down after a deadly fall. >> ems station one, responding to ski granby ranch, for three patients that fell from the chair lift, approximately 25 feet. >> reporter: those three patients, 40

rob marciano, perhaps until april. in the meantime, we move next tonight, to the dramatic prison break in south carolina. the new images coming in this evening. michael womensilliamson serving in prison, caught on walmart. he's accused of stabbing a ryin an elementary school later. and you'll see the new images of that, right here tonight. ends. >> reporter: tonight, that massive 14-hour dk when authors discover michael allen williamson is missing from the south carolina maximumhere he w life sentence. possibly escaping in a food truck. the dangerous criminaled of armed robbery and assault with intent to kill, traveled 80 miles to a walmart, where he is seen in this surveillance image, and is allegedly caught shoplifting. that's when shorts say he stabs a 26-year-old female officer in the arm and shoulder. >> officer stabbed at 1326 bush river road. location is walmart. >> reporter: then, this morning, this exclusive surveillance video shows williamson trying to get into an elementary school, but the school is locked,

let's bring in rob marciano, who is tracking it all. rob, how serious this is system? >> reporter: well, it's the same storm that's hitting the northwest now. it's going to be in the northeast by thursday. so, it's a fast mover. already winds reported at 60 miles an hour and heavy mountain snow. one to three feet of it here in the next 24 to 36 hours. going to ride a powerful jet stream. by thursday morning, it morphs into a coastal low. and that is key. the bigger cities along the i-95 corridor, maybe a wintry mix, but inland, we could see a foot of snow thursday into friday, some uncertainty with the track and timing, so, another update coming tomorrow. >> all right, we'll keep an eye on the storm. rob, thank you. >>> let's head to hawaii now. and history, 75 years in the making. the first visit by a sitting japanese prime minister with an american president at the "uss arizona" memorial at pearl harbor. abc's stephanie ramos is in hawaii tonight. >> reporter: today at pearl harbor, a gesture of remembrance and reconciliation, 75 years in the making. japanese prime m

threatening travel plans for a lot of folks, rob marciano has the latest on the storm's track. s storm has been rocking across the country and set to intensify as it gets to the east coast. look at these advisories, lake-effect snow advisories down into south and north carolina and we're looking for this storm to get to right under new york city by noontime. mostly rain along the i-95 corridor but explodes in its intensity overnight and precip blowing sideways and could see a foot or more of sno and some of this will be wet snow and with those winds power outages possible. much colder behind this for the new year. t.j., back up to. >> thank you, kind sir. >>> new technology could make winter driving safer. tesla released its autopilot predicting a crash and hitting the brakes before the driver saw it coming. check this out. [ beeping ] >> that beeping you heard, that was the car sensing with radar that a vehicle up ahead had slowed down which triggered the emergency braking system. this is a crash that happened in europe. nobody was seriously hurt. >>> a health alert now about p

. >>> let's get right to meteorologist rob marciano, tracking it all for us. hey, rob. >> reporter: hey, david. that cold air is diving south quickly. take a look at where it is. the leading edge of the arctic stuff on the doorstep of chicago and st. louis. problem is with this cold air in place, we have storms coming in, so, tomorrow, a rare low elevation snow event for portland and seattle. could see two to five inches of snow in those cities and they don't do well with that amount of snow. the cold is going to be dangerous in denver. will feel like minus 11. the northeast will see the teens and as cold as 17 and feet like 20 in atlanta. everybody getting their first taste of arctic air. david? >> bundle up here in the east. rob, thank you. >>> we turn next to charleston, south carolina, tonight, and the first day of testimony in the trial of dylann roof. the self-described white supremacist, who admits to killing nine african-americans at a bible study. they had invited him to join them. abc's steve osunsami from charleston tonight. >> reporter: in this char

let's get right to meteorologist rob marciano, tracking the cold tonight for us. hey, rob. >> reporter: hey, david. we haven't seen this stuff in awhile. you have to go back to 2005, where new york hit 24 for a high, and nearly 20 years to have this kind of december cold in chicago. look at the low temperatures tomorrow. zero as the low. negative numbers north and west of there. you throw in the wind child, minus 23 in minneapolis. that dangerous cold slides east on friday. minus 9 in boston,us meanwhile, oregon getting snow and ice again tonight. heavy flooding rain into california. and mountain snow. and this is our next midwest snowstorm friday night. david? >> rob, thank you. >>> we're going to turn back overseas this evening and to our continuing reporting on syria. disturbing images coming in from aleppo all day today. reports of a possible cease-fire back in place, but this one, after the one just last night fell apart. followed by images like this thousands of families have evacuating the city. and in paris that hour, the eiffel tower dark for the people of

abc's rob marciano explains why that could cause problems for the northwest. >> the problem with this cold air in place we have storms coming in from the pacific so snow event for portland and seattle could see 2 to 5 inches in those cities and they don't do well with that amount of snow. >> all of this comes as people in north dakota are digging out from a blizzard. here's an impact giving new meaning to the term snowed in. this is glen berg. they had a seven-foot snowdrift there that molded right into their front door. i think the kids had ray snow day. >>> breaking overnight two major manhunts under way this morning in the south. south carolina prison officials are looking williamsson who say they broke out of mccormick correctional institution serving life in prison. now, police say williamsson may be the same man who stabbed a police officer rat a columbia walmart a few hours later. the officer was responding to a shoplifting call when an attacker stuck her several times with a knife and the attacker got away and the officer is hospitalized but expected to recover. >>> then in ne