liz colin of our twin city station wcco joins us from downtown minneapolis with the latest. trk looks cold. >> reporter: it certainly is,erous. really a whopper here in minneapolis. you think it's minnesota, of course, and it's supposed to snow but it's been years since we heard the words, "blizzard" and "crippling snowstorms." this drift was at least 10 feet high at one point. the cold and the wind are only going to make things worse. the large and powerful storm is blanketing the upper midwest with nearly two feet of snow. strong winds gusting at 50 miles per hour are creating blizzard-like condition conditim south dakota to minnesota. residents here in minneapolis are trying to stay ahead of the 18 inches expected to pile up by the storm's end. >> it's rough. it's really rough, and all the snow doesn't make it any better. >> reporter: it's complete white-out conditions. officials have ordered snow plows off the streets and are warning people to stay inside. three major highways are closed. along interstate 29 in des moines, winds and icy roads caused disbz of spinouts and

you can sit in your office in downtown minneapolis and sell all over the united states and never leave your office, never actually even own a merchandise that you're selling. the world has changed and we think the tax obligation should follow the change. >> are their software passages now that sales-tax collection -- i think they cost a little bit of money. >> guest: they do cost money and some of them work and they work for certain extent. but think about it in the following way. you have to change your ip. so the expenses are very high. so the same issues of the supreme court brief in the case before remain on the cost of trying to do business. plus they haven't eliminated the need for some audits. if you're going to believe what i think you and so forth, some states are going to audit and so you have to get a tax in your business or wherever it is. so that's a huge, huge issue. you also have tax holidays. in florida there is a tax holiday at some point. i don't know where it is for hurricane preparedness or you can buy some of those things online or from a catalog. so you have to ce

you can sit in your office in downtown minneapolis and sell all over the united states and never leave your office, never even own the merchandise you are selling. the world has changed. we think that the tax obligation should follow the change. >> aren't there software packages now that would automate the sales tax collection? i would imagine they cost a little money. >> they do cost money, and some of them work, and they work to a certain extent. think about it in the following way. you have to change your i.t. so the expenses are very high. so the same issues that the supreme court raised before remain on the cost of trying to do business. plus, they haven't eliminated the need for, somewhat, if you are going to believe what i sent you and so forth, some states are going to want to audit, so you have to get a tax department in your business or wherever it is. so that's a huge issue. you also have tax holidays. in florida, there is a tax holiday. i don't know when it is, but you can buy some of those things online, so you have to suddenly know the dates of when you purchased. there a

i just measured about five minutes here in downtown minneapolis on nicolette mall. we have another 12 hours of snow yet to go. by the time all is said and done, we could see a foot, maybe a foot and half here in the twin cities. take a look. we have six states under watches or warnings for blizzards. including minnesota. in addition, ten states with winter storm watches, including ohio. that will extend to all the way near green bay, wisconsin. there could be travel impacts. because of the snow and blowing snow. behind the snow, cold. we're talking serious chills as well as temperatures. 8 below in minneapolis by tomorrow morning. 20 below in bismarck could feel more like 35 below. and the arctic blast from the midwest down the east coast and into the south. atlanta, into the teens by tuesday morning. new york city, only waking up to 20 by tuesday. and even in orlando, looking for a deep freeze in just a couple of days. bianna? >> stay warm out there. >>> meantime, family and friends of elizabeth edwards are gathering to say their final farewell. to the woman who wa

we're here in downtown minneapolis. the mall is virtually deserted that is after leaving a swath of 1 to 2 feet of snow in the twin cities and the north dakota to northern iowa six inches plus officially at minneapolis/st. paul international just over 17 inches, that's the fifth biggest storm in history here and the most since 1991. a wallop of a snowstorm tore through the midwest. with up to 2 feet of snow and winds up to 50 miles per hour. the storm is affecting 1,500 miles from the plains to the great lakes and the midwest all the way to the gulf. >> it is frustrating. i think i went through three different airlines. >> reporter: the storm created travel chaos. three airports were forced to close and roads were forced to shut down in five states. >> obviously this is much more cold than i'm used to, so i'll be glad to get back to florida where there is no snow and we can drive on the roads and walk around without falling down. >> reporter: in minnesota alone this is the biggest snowfall in almost 20 years. more than 3

there's so much snow there, really nowhere to put it, trucking out of downtown, the minneapolis closed because of this cold air.   right know, wind chill, between 20 and 30 below. most people have to go to work. this is our biggest snowfall of the year, fifth biggest blizzard on record, so everything was shut down, just about the entire weekend. unfortunately for most people, everything is cleaned up or getting cleaned up and back on track in time to go back to work. >> :  >> is everything paralyzed or just the planes and the roads there? >> it was. ah, it was. absolutely. >> reporter: the entire state of minnesota was shut down between saturday rning and sunday morning. they canceled all the flights at minneapolis saint paul international airport, they closed sections of freeway in the southern part of

roof of the metrodome in minneapolis collapsed and we will explain what will happen to the scheduled vikings came out there. the morning and i am gonzaleses and take a look downtown the fog has lifted. but a stick a look the bride and as the forecast. >> a lot of fog of their this morning and we will see the sun shine is c'mon late sen late this afternoon and it should be a nice day. the temperatures are mild and today mid-60s and perhaps some of for six days into san jose and for this evening partpartly cloudy skies. high temperatures this afternoon and as i was mentioning the 60s all around the bay area with mid-60s and take antioch enter fill close to 70 degrees was said is they are high as 69 mid-60's through oakland and san francisco. we do have wet weather in the forecast and i will let you know what it will ride coming up and around. >> thank you brian, workers in the nablus are assessing the damage to the metrodome. the inflated roof collapsed overnight and it is the home of the minnesota vikings. the game was scheduled for today and had already been postponed because the visiting new art trends could not get to minneapolis because of all of this no fault

downtown as to purchase santa clara. james. >> winter weather is really being a problem across a big truck of the country. lot pictures of the cleveland, and the metrodome in minneapolis. part of that roof collapsed over the weekend because of all the snow that had about 2 ft.. as a result of a football game will be moved. as a look at the traffic on left a lot of major highways across several states are close are completely, 1600's side of chicago canceled because of all the bad weather expecting much to continue today. they had 2 ft. of snow fall there. upstate new york and it novato they're expecting more and other nasty day it will affect flights headed other us are for where you know. other developing story, said bidders get their first chance to vote on a tax-cut deal set by president obama. whatever the outcome of the white house does expect the bill to pass by the end of the year. there's a good number expected ready to set the bill. it will avoid an increase in income tax, the new jobless penance for the unemployed and provide a one-year cut in social security taxes. vacaville police are investigating a stabbing and rape. 13 year- old girl and her 18 month ol