lana: d.c. is preparing for an epic brothers learned with a trial run -- blizzard with a trial run. >> i am also declaring a snow emergency. lana: the mayor promising to be better prepared after less than two inches of snow fell wednesday, leading to this. >> it took me an hour to get four miles so we decided to walk , and it is icy on the roads. lana: even air force one was caught in the icy conditions. well residents prepared for the impending storm, many on social media were frustrated. this person taking aim at the those first snowflakes snarling traffic and causing accident after accident. 776 traffic crashes reported, nearly 400 calls from disabled vehicles, and with forecasters predicting up to two feet of snow in the mid-atlantic, grocery shelves have been picked bayer. >> ice melt, snow shovels. lana: the man with the snowblower -- >> i am the only one with a snowblower. lana: is the most popular man in town. predicting historic amounts of snow. lana zak, abc news, washington. erika: i

lana zak, abcs, washington. sean: and at this hour, ted cruz is holding a town hall in the small town of washington. other candidates are meeting donald trump is speaking at afternoon. and john kasich will be in plymouth, hanover, and lebanon. british lawmakers plan to debate u.k. more than 500,000 people signed an online petition calling for trump to be blocked, after he called for a temporary ban on muslims entering the u.s. the debate will not end in a binding vote. coming up, the american held boston today. plus, how the other freed prisoners are doing. hayley: snow showers still moving across new hampshire at this hour. the big thing when you step out, it is the cold and the winds that are now howling. corner," we' ll show you how to make a delicious pork loin. a perfect dish for a cold winter there are two democratic visions millions from big banks and then tell them what to do. my plan -- break up the big banks, close the tax loopholes, and make them pay then we can expand health care to all, and provide

lana: d.c. is preparing for an epic blizzard with a trial run. mayor bowser: we are very sorry for inadequate response. i am also declaring a snow emergency. lana: d.c. is going to be more prepared after less than two evening, leading to this. >> it was pretty rough driving home. took him an hour to get four miles, then we decided to walk, and it' s pretty icy on the roads too when you' re walking. lana: even the president himself caught in the icy conditions, the presidential motorcade ping-ponging on the slick streets. while residents prepared for the impending storm, many on social media were frustrated by the preparation, or lack of it, on the roads. this person taking aim at the virginia department of transportation, writing "vdot needs to get salt on the roads." those first snowflakes snarled roads, and caused accident, after accident, 776 traffic crashes reported, nearly 400 calls from disabled vehicles. and with forecasters predicting up to two feet of snow in the mid-atlantic this weeke

[laughter] lana: speaking of truth. on the democratic side, bernie sanders saying what politicians usually will not. >> we will raise taxes, yes, we will. lana: explaining how he would fund a single-payer health plan. >> we are also going to eliminate private health insurance premiums for individuals and for businesses. lana: hillary clinton also campaigning on health care in iowa. >> when i worked on health care in 1993 and 1994, i was trying to get to universal health care coverage. lana: just one republican debate remains before the iowa caucuses. donald trump threatens he may boycott the debate if megyn this marks the third time he has threatened to pull out of a debate. abc news, washington. sean: republican john kasich is the only candidate with events scheduled in new hampshire today. this comes one day after the ohio governor picked up the endorsement of "the boston globe." they say he is the republican with the best chance to be successful on the national stage. donald trump is taking a stand for eminent domain

lana zak, abc news. sean: republican john kasich is the only candidate with events this comes one day after the ohio governor picked up the endorsement of "the boston globe " for the new hampshire primary. they say he is the republican with the best chance to be successful on the national stage. donald trump is taking a stand for eminent domain. speaking at farmington high school last night, he embraced one of the most contentious issues in new hampshire related to projects like the candor morgan pipeline. -- kinder morgan pipeline. while he says he does not love eminent domain, he described it as essential. >> you couldn' t have a pipeline, a road, anything -- i' m being attacked about eminent domain. give me a break. sean: he will be in new hampshire on friday for a town hall in nashua. erin: still ahead, finding a job after college can be tough, but one local school has a special sean: mcdonald' s is bouncing back and company leaders say there is one thing in particular that customers seem to be lovin

lana: six states of emergency already declared. the nations capital bracing for power outages, roof collapses, and worse. >> we see this as a major storm. it has life and death implications. lana: washington today beginning to lock down. drivers asked to stay off the roads. the d.c. metro transportation system will be closed. >> by 3:00 today, you need to be where you are going to be lana: up to 30 inches of snow predicted here with 50 mile an hour winds, and store shelves reflect the concern. philadelphia' s airport canceling all flights. in the new york area, around 1700 snow plows are at the ready. >> we have 300-3000 tons of rock salt on hand -- we have 300-3000 -- 303 ,000 tons of rock salt on hand. lana: cars sliding off the roads in arkansas, a tornado in mississippi taking down trees. as the countdown to a potentially historic blizzard is now just hours away. erika: cancellations already starting to pile up at logan airport. we are always told this, but at this point, it' s really more kelley:" a lot of cancellations like r

lana: finally take advantage of the benefit. oil prices at the lowest levels in 12 years may be a bomb to your family's finances. lana: this is a terrific thing for people heating their homes, buying cars, people driving, that's free money in people's pockets. lana: another thing to watch out for? the december job reports which comes out today. most are optimistic, forecasting thousands of new jobs. sean: republican presidential hopeful, carly fiorina, is wrapping up a five-day swing today. she spoke to a packed house in meredith last night and addressed issues like isis and health care. she also took a shot at democrat, orient. >> the way to beat hillary clinton is to point out she doesn't accomplishment and she's been wrong on every challenge. she lied to the american people. not just about e-mails and servers, but about benghazi. she lied over and over again. sean: john kasich is wrapping up a visit today. he has meetings planned in exeter today. >>> tonight we're taking an in depth look at future of the process as well a vie

lana zak has tonight's medical minute. childhood is a precious time, and as those beautiful babies grow into kids and then teens, how we protect them changes too. in a new report? researchers from around the globe examined rates and causes of childhood death in children of various ages. finding mortality rates in kids, on the whole, are on the decline. and while that's welcome news to parents, there is still --nearly eight million children and teens worldwide died in 2013? and more than four in five of these deaths were in children younger than five. the top causes of death, according to the report, were all preventable. from respiratory illnesses in children under five? to road injuries in adolescents aged ten to nineteen. the message to parents... take the steps you can to keep kids healthy and safe. you may not be able to protect them forever... but you can improve the chances that live a long and happy life. with this medical minute, i'm lana zak and happy life. with this medical minute, i'm lana zak and happy life. wi

lana zak live in des moines, lana, language you so much. the debate might be paying off a ttle. >> experts say that this debate was a front-runner's easiest win yet. without trump's presence there was no obvious standout candidate. and according to abc political consultant matthewowd -- >> i think the biggest winner of this politically was donald trump. i think if you pick somebody on stage, i think rand paul actually did the best. i ththought marco rubio won the first half of the debate but faded in the second half, but if you had to pick somebody that did well and seemed to do best without donald trump there, it was rand paul. >> and if you're looking for concrete numbers, an important poll will be released tomorrow from "the des moines register." dowd says if trump holds a lead in that poll, he'll likely win the iowa caucuses come monday. >>> okay, and get this, last night trump still dominated the chatter on social media. >> during the debate he was the most talked about candidate on twitter and the most searched on google. on facebook

this was a widespread storm. >> lana live in washington. thank you, lana. >>> so, the official snow total in washington is only 17.8 inches. more than that and it probably was. measuring device at reagan national airport. an observer about a mile from the airport reported nearly 2 more inches. >> and what a difference just a short drive makes. take a look at this map. 35 miles separating areas that received 2 feet and 6 inches. >>> and take a look at these numbers, shepherdstown, west virginia, buried under 40.5 inches of snow. jfk airport in new york getting 30.5. and baltimore's bwi airport, 29.2. newark airport, 28.1. the national zoo in washington, ahead. >>> but first, moments of panic on an american airlines jet, that's what passengers are describing as a miami to milan flight was hit by severe turbulence over the atlantic. the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in newfoundland, canada. where ambulances were waiting on the tarmac. three flight attendants and four passengers were taken to the hospital. they are all expect

cuerpo.... --- la oveja fue esquilada y la cantidad de lana super las 46 libras...australia, que estuvo extraviada durante varios aÑos, bati el rcord en cantidad de lana esquilada de una sola vez, su pelaje pes unas noventalibras.. anchor gracias por acompanarnos, recuerden que le tendremos breves informativos durante el [♪] >>tÚ sabes que para organizar una fiesta se necesita tiempo. >>¿quÉ clase de fiesta? >>una fiesta de matrimonio. >>vi que en la televisiÓn van a hacer un concurso de grupos musicales. llamÉ para ver de que se trataba y los inscribÍ. >>de ahora en adelante, tu marido y tÚ no podrÁn comer con nosotros en el comedor. >>¿quÉ? >>¡estamos solos! >>estamos en guerra. >>¿ah, sÍ? pues entonces cuidate porque todavÍa no ha nacido el hombre que me doblegue. >>se me olvidÓ llevar...

lana, thank you very much. >> truly has been exciting. it does appear this hour that donald trump's decision to skip the debate might be paying off. >> experts say this debate was a front-runner's easiest win yet. without trump's presence there was no obvious standout candidate. according to matthew dowd. >> the biggest winner of this politically was donald trump. i think if you pick somebody on stage, i think rand paul actually did the best. i thought marco rubio won the first half but faded in the second half but if you had to pick somebody that did well and trump there, it was rand paul. >> if you're looking for concrete numbers an important poll will be released from "the de niro register -- des moines register." >> he still dominated on social media. >> the most talked about on twitter and the most searched on google. on facebook these were the most talked about issues, immigration, isis and islam and muslims. stay with abc news for complete coverage. more analysis on "good morning america." >> we should note the next republican deba

hey, lana, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi. you know, in this storm, everybody has been working furiously to try to clear the streets. but as you mentioned the federal government is still closed down today. and the concern really is on these streets as the snow has melted all of this has turned into black ice. this weekend's storm was one for the record books. nearly 2 feet of snow in some areas of wasashington,.c. it was the biggest storm ever in baltimore at 29.2 inches. and in new york's central park, a new 24-hour record with 26.8 inches of snow. grinding to a halt all formsf travel -- well, almost all forms. drivers on the pennsylvania turnpike were marooned for up to 30 hours. sunday mass on the highway. and on the jersey shore, blocks of ice floated down flooded streets. the snow building continuously throughout the weekend. in virginia, and up and down the coast, the weight of all that snow too much for area roofs. even this ambulance was stuck. this morning, the east coast will be digging out. >> a record amount of sno

. >> reporter: lana barton takes the stand and what she talks about most was drugs. in fact it took quite awhile to get her and ebron' s slang down everything from loud, meaning marijuana, m' s for morphine. dubbed means $20 worth of cocaine and even more. >> during that time, were you aware of the defendant still continuing to be what you refer to as - - >> yes. >> and can you tell us about the problems? >> um, yes. >> okay. cocaine? >> yeah. >> vicodin? >> yes. >> morphine? >> yes. >> any others? >> (inaudible) >> i' m sorry. hallucinogenics? >> yeah. >> and that relates to the attempt to convict of child neglect because bart onds the drug deals would often happen around her children. >> as it relates to this activity, did the defendant have to maintain a supply of >> yes. >> where did he keep that supply? >> nightstand. >> nightstand in your shared residence? >> yes. >> who else lived in that with you? >> my two children. >> two children. how old? >> 5 and 2. >> in the end the prosecutor put the exclamation point on the attempt to paint hebron as guilty of child n

tied the strongest previous el nino on record, but according to noaa, it appears to have peaked.3 lana zak, abcn w 3 3 3 new this morning... it is an incredible image following a house fire in wilkes county. the flames trapped a family of five in the home... and on the roof. one neighbor captured the fightening scene in a photo.. right before flames engulfed the home. the trapped family called for help to their neighbors. those neighbors came to the rescue... two showing up with a ladder. little girls to 3 jump bec there was flames starting to come up out of the top of the house one person was burned and hurt after jumping from the roof, but is expected to be okay. fire investigations believe a space heater started the blaze. 3 3 family members in west asheville say they are living in fear, after a man broke into their home while they were there. catherine turner says she and her three kids were visiting her mother on "florida avenue" monday, when a man walked into the home. turner says after she ran the man out, he then harassed her neighbors, and wrecked a car into a nearby fence. 3

lana zak joins us from des moines with "your voice, your vote." good morning, lana. and good morning, kendis. you know, donald trump wasn't even on the debate main stage but there was still plenty of memorable moments however most of them were about donald trump. it was the final debate before the first votes are cast in iowa and the national front-runner was absent. >> let's address the elephant not in the room tonight. still, donald trump's influence was felt. >> everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly. now that we've gotten the donald trump portion out of the way. >> reporter: but ted cruz's jokes turned tense. >> the last four questions have been, rapid, please attack ted, chris, please attack ted. jeb, please attack jeb. let me say this -- >> it is a debate, sir. >> if you guys ask one more mean question i may have to leave the stage. >> reporter: setting marco rubio up for the first of several applause lines. >> don't worry, i'm not leaving me. >> all: usa, usa. >> reporter: a few miles away trump held his own event. >> i didn't want to be here, i have t

abc's lana zak is in washington this morning... she joins us now with more details about this dangerous winter blast. supers: stephanie c. rawlings-blake / mayor, baltimore (:58-1:07) sheila wannen / cleaning up after the storm lana zak / abc news washington good morning. here in the nation's capital the crews are working furiously this morning to clear the streets...the concern now, less script: [wswnblizzardwrappkg start w plows & capitol] this weekend's storm was one for the gfx: it was the biggest storm ever in baltimore--at 29.2 inches gfx: and in new york's central park, a new 24-hour record-- with 26.8 inches of snow grinding to a halt all marooned for up to 30-hours ariel of long line on highway] creating a unique situation--sunday mass on the highway. [wswnstrandedtravelerspkg-mass on the highway!!] nats and on the jersey shore...blocks of ice floated down flooded streets [wswncoastslammedpkg-ice floating down street w cars] sheila wannen/cleaning up after the storm sot: the damage was bad. there was more debris than there

lana, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kayna and kendis. in advance of today's presidential announcement, some gun advocates are denouncing the executive order before it's even been announced while gun show sales are now hitting record highs. with the national rifle association. >> reporter: across the country gun sales have been especially busy. >> any time that the president gets up there and starts talking gun control, people actually, you know, go and get guns. >> reporter: potential gun restrictions were a motivating factor for this buyer. >> because all the gun laws, all these strict rules that are coming out, and every day or every month there's a shooting. people want to be protected. >> reporter: today president obama will announce new actions that are expected to focus on mental health issues, update the background check system and close the so-called gun show loophole that allows some people to buy guns without background checks. >> these are not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority and the executive branc

lana zak is following it all now. >>reporter: good morning, a winter storm predicted for iowa is expected to hold off until after the caucuses are done. that can be very important for a candidate with a lot of first-time voters. >> this land is your land, >>> >>reporter: could the insurgent candidates actually walk away with a win in iowa? >> what the pundits say, about young people, you know, they come out to rallies, but you know what, they're not going to come out to participate in the caucus. so, how would you like to make the pundits look dumb on election night? bernie sanders played to his largest crowd yet as the last major poll before the iowa caucuses has sanders within 3 points of hillary clinton. but, clinton appeared confident, joined by the whole family on the trail. >> i'm just thrilled that chelsea and bill can be with me. >>reporter: also joining her, former congresswoman gabby giffordss. >> it is hard for me, but january -- come january, i want president. >>reporter: on the republican side, donald tru

abc's lana zak has the latest from washington. the countdown to the iowa caucuses is now cruz sot "171 hours, that's all we have till the iowa caucuses. ted cruz, seeing his poll numbers slip in recent days, urged voters to turn out. cruz sot "it's now or never. we can't get it wrong again." but wrong, is what donald trump is saying about cruz, telling supporters the texan should run for prime instead trump sot "my new battle is with a gentleman named ted cruz. because, gotta speak the truth. the canadian, the man from canada. // and speaking of truth... nats "bernie! bernie! bernie!" on the democratic side, bernie sanders saying what politicians usually don't-- sot bernie sanders "we will raise taxes. yes, we will," explaining during a town hall in iowa last night how he would fund a single- payer health plan-- "we are also going to eliminate premiums for individuals and for businesses." hillary clinton also campaigning on health care in iowa... when i worked on health care back in '93 and '94, //, i was trying to get us to unive

lana zach, abc news, des moines. >> you can get the latest by downloading the wftv app. >>> and those who don't have insurance after tomorrow will have to pay $695 for each person in their family or 2.5% of your household income, whichever is greater. right now florida is leading the nation in the number of enrollments. as of wednesday, about 300,000 people in orlando have coverage. >>> the florida house and senate proposed a nearly $80 billion budget that would add an additional $124 per student for education. the senate's proposed budge set $1 billion more and would add $141 per student. both budget proposals are higher than what governor rick scott planned. up. >> you'll notice t. the minute walk out of the door -- it the minute you walk out the door. week ahead. very busy for 08 express way. a lot of people heading out and afternoon. we'll have that high level clouds stick with us throughout the day today but a lot of sunshine will push through. more clouds are coming into the area through tomorrow. mid-to-lower 60s are ruling already here and it's just 12:18. we're just getting s

with this medical minute, i'm lana zak " coming up in sports... hilton the place to be tonight if you're a college basketball fan. we'll preview the matchup between the cyclones and kansas up ahead. us... the hawkeyes continue to climb the polls. what the a-p voters think of iowa wasn't typically known for college basketball but that it might be changing. consider it done. the hawkeyes and the cyclones combined to move up 11 spots in today's ap poll, and iowa vaulted all the way to number 3, a ranking they haven't held since december 8, 1987! iowa state, they shot up as well following wins over oklahoma and tcu last week. the cyclones rose five spots to 14 and we'll have more on their upcoming brutal schedule in just a moment. but first the hawkeyes...iowa hasn't been ranked third since some guy nameddoctor t t davis was on t t sidelines.s. yesterday's 83-71 win over then number 22 purdue, the hawkeyes improved to 7-0 in the big ten for the first time since the 69-70 season. as we've heard from the team the past couple of weeks though, they know t

here's abc's lana zak. nats rushing water torrential downpours in wilodmar, california have turned this waterfall. a powerful el nino is slamming the california coast, nats pd video turning streets into streams... ...and causing parking garages to overflow with water.... the quick bursts of heavy rains taking drivers, like allexa maitia in san diego, by surprise sot maitia -"and i saw cars going through it and so i thought 'oh i'm fine' until i felt my car slightly lift off and i just felt all the water and i was like i can't move." the water, too heavy for so many roofs... surprising diners at this el pollo loco. and for homeowners who once feared wildfires, a new concern... sot probably the most dangerous place in southern california. potential mudslides from denuded hilsides. the owner of this home, ready to take off. his the front seat. sot "we have the catbox ready it's el nino has also contributed to the near-record flooding in the south and record-breaking warm end to 2015, the east has been hit with

lana zak is following the global response. lana: good morning. many military experts are saying this is more likely another case of north korean inflated claims of grandeur, but still a reason to be concerned. not likely a hydrogen bomb. that is the latest word from the intelligence community. >> it looks like this was more around 6-7 kilotons. lana: a hydrogen bomb is 1000 times more powerful than the hiroshima and nagasaki. it has never been used in war. north korea was celebratory on s birthday. the international condemnation has been swift. the united nations security council holding an emergency china, rebuking north korea. to be clear, even if this was a lesser bomb, it is still the fourth time since 2006 that device. sean: town officials in merrimack have given conditional approval to a medical marijuana dispensary, but not everyone is happy with the location. the facility would be in a former credit union off the dw highway. it would be centrally located to serve two counties. there is a safe to lock up the the owner of a business next-do

abc's lana zak has the latest. . "join or renew your membership with the national rifle association, get into the gun show for free."across the country, sales at gun shows and firearms stores have been especially busy.... james hillin, owner, full armor firearms "any time that the president gets up there and starts talking about gun control, people will actually go and get guns potential gun restrictions was a motivating factor for this buyer-- "because of all the gun laws all these strict rules that are coming out. every day, every month there's a shooting and people want to be protected. "today, president obama will announce new actions that are background check system and close the so-called gun show loophole that allows some people to buy guns without background checks. potus these are not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority and the executive branch, but they are also ones that the overwhelming majority of the american people, including gun owners, support and believe in. this gun owner s

lana zak live in washington for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the two men arrested in california and texas, both were refugees from iraq, one coming syria. in sacramento, a 23-year-old iraqi man arrested accused of trying to travel to syria to and in houston a 24-year-old iraqi man was charged woo providing material support to isis. their refugee status is sparking new criticism from republicans that the u.s. is not doing enough to screen refugees for potential ties to terrorism. the governor of texas urging president obama to halt the flow of refugees until there is, quote, an effective vetting process. the lieutenant governor of texas weighing in saying it may have prevented a catastrophic terror related event in the making and saved countless lives and the u.s. attorney's office tells our station in sacramento there is a connection between the two men but would not elaborate further. both expected to be in their respective corrs today. >> this definitely will be fuel on the campaign trail no doubt. >> yeah. >> lana zak in washington for us. >

here's abc's lana zak. finally, a good trading day on the chinese markets after previously sparking global market panics over fears of a slowing chinese economy, the shanghai composite index closed 2% higher at the end of trading on friday. on thursday, chinese stocks fell 7% and trading was suspended 30 minutes after opening fueling a nosedive on wall street. the dow closed down nearly 400 points yesterday. wall street nats and with all those investors pulling their hair, average americans may be looking at their investments and retirement funds with concern. so what should you do? change your 401k in a panic yahoo sot if you end up selling when the markets are down, you're setting yourself up for losses potentially. next, realize that the sell-offs have may present an opportunity to purchase stocks at a discount. 8. soundbite jonathan corpina, senior managing partner, meridian equity partners: // if there are stocks out there that you have been following over time - that in your in opinion have been too e

reporting live from des moines, lana zak, abc news, now back to you. >>evan: thank you, lana. an 18 year-old virginia tech freshman is charged with murder after the remains of a 13 year-old girl were found in north carolina. nicole lovell disappeared from her home in virginia wednesday night. her body was found in surry county last night. about 100 miles from her home. david eisenhower had already been arrested saturday morning and charged with felony abduction. after lovell's body was found he was charged with murder. he is being held without bond in a jail in montgomery county, virginia. the motive and cause of death is still not known. >>> deputies need your help finding a missing madison county man, 49 year-old andrew smith pictured on your screen was seen on river road in hot springs. he is six feet tall, 195 pounds, if you have seen him or know where he is, call the sheriff offense office at (828) 649-2721. >>> a man found dead in an upstate field prompted a homicide investigation. 42 year-old jamie howard of greer was found friday night in the woods near burr rel street

lana zak, abc news, washington. verbatim: the stock market started out the year down in a big way... wil it rebound today... >>> good morning. topping "america's money" -- will wall street turn things arnd? >> yeah, big question. u.s. markets got off to their worst start in years after bad economic news from china sent overseas markets plunging. >> the dow lost 276 points. the nasdaq was off 104 and the s&p gave up 31. >>> the justice department is the scandal in which diesel cars were rigged to cheat on emissions tests. >> the suit seeks billions of dollars in penalties and there may still be criminal charges against some volkswagen executives. >>> and starbucks is kicking off the new year on a bold note. on sale today, a brand-new espresso drink. >> the latte macchiato. it's made from steam whole milk with full espresso shots on a bold scale. below a flat white. one step below a full-fledged espresso. so, there you have it. does the smell of a freshly bound presentation fill you with optimism? do you love your wir