In to us. A pileup in wisconsin. One car ricochets down the icy highway causing a chain reaction. And that driver in texas who narrowly misses slabs of ice hurdling toward the ground. Abcs extreme weather team is tracking it all tonight, and weather editor ginger zee starts us off. Reporter tonight, almost the entire nation is in the perilous grip of winter come early. This is unlike anything ive ever seen. Reporter in california, chilling winds, and all the way to new england several ice inspired spinouts. This is interstate 91. Were going south to new haven. You can see what happened on the northbound side. All that ice on top of the trees, the road and a huge backup. Over the weekend, deadly collision. Near milwaukee, wisconsin, watch this Traffic Camera catching the entire pileup, car after car crashing into each other. In new york, a mangled mess. Its like a hockey rink right now. Reporter in texas, the inches of ice that kept david daugherty, his wife and toddler stuck in the car for 26 hours. I have been sitting in the same spot. I have not moved one foot from exit 380 in 11 hours. Ive tried calling the police department. Ive tried calling everybody and i cant hardly get anyone to answer the phone. Reporter officials telling us they were simply overwhelmed by the ice. If you find yourself stuck in your car here are some tips that could save your life. Make sure your tail pipe is clear of mud, snow, any of that. You could get Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Keep your emergency kit fresh. Finally, stay in your car. Dont go wandering. It is your best protection. Idling uses about half a gallon of gas an hour so a 15 gallon tank could last up to 30 hours but run your engine only long enough to remove the chill. Idling too long could lead to fumes in the car. It wasnt all just on the road. In texas look at these wild sheets of ice flying off the top of a building. Tonight in chicago, the bundling has begun in soldier field. Weve got Battery Powered socks, gloves, hands warmers. You name it, we have it. Reporter theyll need it. Temperatures in the teens, wind chill near zero, Mother Nature challenging us all with quite the offense. Here we go again, another storm to talk about. Lets get straight to the map. This is for the overnight early morning. Going to be a mess for parts of the midatlantic and northeast. Were talking some two to four inches for a lot of folks. Washington d. C. When you are going to work, philadelphia, new york, its going to Start Building through the morning and early afternoon. Thats just the beginning of it. That cold behind. You saw that forecast in chicago. Those folks need to remember, hydrate, avoid the caffeine and alcohol, and chug water. Diane . Thanks so much, ginger, and of course that weather map means from the roads to the airports the storm is going to leave hundreds of people stranded. Endless delays. Today more than 1,600 flights were cancelled across the nation. Abcs Clayton Sandell reporting on the waiting game from the dallasfort worth airports. Reporter in chicago today the plows are working overtime to clear runways but they could not plow away the frustrations of tens of thousands of stranded travelers like this man. Im upset because really i dont know when im going to leave here. Reporter he and his family spent the night in the terminal at ohare. Deluxe accommodations around the country amounting to chairs in San Francisco and cots in dallas. Im this close to starting to begin to be frustrated here. Reporter cancellations hit dallas the hardest. Since the storm began, more than 12,000 flights nationwide grounded. This was the problem here at dallasfort worth. Thick layers of dangerous ice that turned this entire tarmac and the runways into a virtual hockey rink. 4,000 dallas fliers spent the night in the concourse friday. Some couldnt leave for days. When you get freezing rain turning into ice, its very different than snow. Its four times as dense. Its much thicker and its very hard to plow. Reporter amid the travel nightmares, a few notes of Holiday Cheer just when its needed most. Clayton sandell, abc news, dallas. Thanks to clayton. Just 15 days before christmas we wondered if this wicked weather is throwing a curveball to shipping all the christmas presents. We talked to fedex and ups and they say they have their own meteorologists on staff and expect to make up any lost weather time in a few days so santas helpers do not need to worry. Now the as yan know jumbo jet crash in San Francisco back in the news tonight as new details emerge raising new concern over what is known as automation addiction. Abc news confirming that investigators will look at whether pilots relied too much on computerized controls and didnt realize the plane didnt have enough power to reach the runway. The ntsb begins hearings tomorrow. Also examining by the way if the pilots had enough training manually to fly that plane out of trouble. We move next tonight to Nelson Mandela and World Leaders from across the globe descending on south africa, including american president s past and present. Today president and mrs. Obama were seen boarding air force one and on board a kind of president ial car pool. Former first lady, secretary Hillary Clinton and laura bush and former president george w. Bush. On board the Group Sharing memories of mandela as all eyes turned toward johannesburg and the service now just hours away. Abcs chief Foreign Correspondent terry moran is there. Reporter doves released into the skies outside Nelson Mandelas home today, a fitting tribute for a great man of peace. In johannesburg, meanwhile, it was all business. Workers prepping the fnb stadium, capacity 94,000, for the massive Memorial Service taking place here tomorrow. Security preparations are intense, and with good reason. The world has never seen a gathering of leaders like this one. Flying in from more than 90 countries, from argentina to pakistan, trinidad to china, including four u. S. President s, obama, who has been chosen to speak tomorrow and three of his predecessors which has the American Ambassador here scrambling. The president went wheels up about an hour and a half ago. So, theyre all coming at us. Reporter mandelas passing is a global event, but it is also personal. Today, his daughter, maki mandela, spoke to the bbc about his last moments, surrounded by his wife, graca machel and his family. The children were there, the grandchildren were there. Graca was there so were always around him. Nelson mandela Nelson Mandela reporter mandela touched so many, so deeply. This afternoon, we met a young entrepreneur in a shanty town near pretoria. He built his internet cafe with his own hands, and despite the desperate poverty here, hes dreaming big. Twenty years in the future, maybe, i might be another mandela. Reporter you can feel it here, at this spontaneous memorial outside his home, mandelas presence in the lives and dreams of so many. And tomorrow, at the unprecedented gathering of president s and princes and ordinary people, the whole world will say goodbye. Diane . Thank you so much, terry. Later on byron pitts will have more on mandela and a powerful moment that shook a racist culture to the core. And from south africa we head now to some strange pictures out of north korea, the mysterious nation has confirmed a shakeup at the very top, a deadly family feud. The unpredictable leader kim jongun ousted his uncle and mentor who was considered the power player in the shadows. He was being arrested right there during a meeting, hauled away by police, accused of corruption, womanizing, drug abuse and, quote, capitalist lifestyle. A stunning fall from grace from a man who was never far from his nephew. You can see him in photos with him just a few feet from the protege. Look again because tonight his image has been scrubbed out of those official photos. Now back here in this country, a Top Doctors Group has a new warning tonight about the prescription painkillers in your medicine cabinet. Abcs dr. Richard besser with more on all of this for us and what it means. Reporter its the danger sitting right there in your medicine cabinet. Drug overdoses, largely fueled by the wild rise in prescription painkillers are now killing more americans per year than Car Accidents on our highways. Accidental overdoses from prescription painkillers have quadrupled in just a decade. One reason, doctors are prescribing more and more percocet, vicodin, oxycontin and we cant seem to stop taking them. In fact, almost all of abused pain meds start as legitimate prescriptions for real pain. Then a growing number of addicts buy leftover pills or just take them from friends medicine cabinets. Todays medical group is the latest calling for tougher rules and some are coming. Expect to see fewer pills per prescription, and a mandatory visit to the doctor to get a renewal and no more prescriptions over the phone. This is a problem because we never throw pills away. Heres what you do. Go to your medicine cabinet and get rid of pain medicines or sleeping pills that you no longer use. You cant just throw them in the trash or flush them down the toilet. Check with your police department. They may have a drop box or get a ziploc bag and put the pills in there, add water, coffee grounds or kitty litter, shake it up and throw it away and you will know that no one is going to get to it. At least this is a beginning of addressing the problem. Only a part but it can help. Thank you so much, rich. We like to tell you about trends and changing tastes in america, and tonight a sign the diet soda craze may be losing its fizz. Abcs david wright looks at a sign of the times and what were drinking instead. Tab cola reporter back in the 80s and 90s diet soft drinks lent new fizz to the soda wars. Featuring the greatest athletes and the sexiest super models. Some things never change. Reporter but some things do. New sales figures suggest americas love affair with diet soft drinks may have lost its pop. For nine straight years sales have been dropping. For the past three the dropoff in diet soda has been steeper than regular soft drinks. Zero and low calorie beverages down nearly seven percent this year. Regular soda down two percent. We used to drink regular and then say, im drinking diet. Its fine. But the reality is these days were becoming a little bit of a confession in my office where i eat generally okay but i have to confess, i drink diet soda. Reporter why the drop . Some dont trust artificial sweetene sweeteners. Also, drinking sugarfree soda does not guarantee weight loss. One study found that test subjects who drank two or more diet soft drinks a day had their waist lines grow five times faster than those who drank no soft drinks. True confessions, did you ever drink this stuff . I did. When i was in graduate school i drank it and then i quit. Now i wont even sip it because im afraid ill like it and get back to it. Reporter the American Beverage Association said us, our industry believes in the soft drink business and sees an opportunity for continued innovation and growth. The biggest growth these days is Energy Drinks and good Old Fashioned water, pure and simple. David wright, abc news, los angeles. And right here on world news, with so many of us on the road slipping and sliding into a holiday headache, how you can make sure those holiday fender benders dont put a huge dent in your holiday budget. Our Real Money Team is back. Take a look at this, the surprise orchestra suddenly appearing out of nowhere. A classy burst of Holiday Cheer and were back in two minutes. Bob will retire when hes 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. But hes not. Hes an architect with two kids and a mortgage. Luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. And with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. Heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. Tum, tum tum tum tums [ male announcer ] your eyes. Even at a distance of 10 miles. The length of 146 football fields. They can see the light of a single candle. Your eyes are amazing. Look after them with centrum silver. Multivitamins with lutein and vitamins a, c, and e to support healthy eyes and packed with key nutrients to support your heart and brain, too. Centrum silver. For the most amazing parts of you. Centrum silver. Is there a lot of worry building up around a daily problem . Well ladies, now theres big news in controlling your Overactive Bladder symptoms. Thinking less about them with new oxytrol for women. Its a patch. The first and only over the counter treatment for Overactive Bladder. Its good to know how to put the control back in your go. New oxytrol for women. Now over the counter in the feminine care aisle. Visit oxytrolforwomen. Com to learn more. Were back now with our Real Money Team. As drivers know one of the hazards of this slippery december weather, more fender benders, but these kinds of accidents often do the most damage to your wallet. Abcs paula faris and how to keep the money in your pocket. Reporter the weather outside is frightful, and so is the damage it can do to your car. Car insurance claims in december almost 20 higher than the rest of the year. Here at great bear auto body shop, mechanic audra fordin tells us the work is piling up. We get a lot of snow. We definitely get jammed up with a lot of repairs. Reporter this accident on icy roads happened just this morning. A bumper, a fender. Reporter the most common, body damage or a busted bumper coasting anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. With a few simple tips you can put the brakes on spending a bundle. Tip number one get the best price. When we met the ray brand family of San Francisco this summer they needed a tuneup but local mechanics quoting them wildly different prices. 250, 310, 325. Reporter repair pal gives you the average cost for the same service in your area so you know youre getting a fair deal. Tip number two, if your repair is simple, why not have them come to you. With your mechanic sprouting up around the country, youll pay a lot less. They dont have to have a garage and all the overhead that that requires. Reporter finally, tip number three, if you need road side assistance, towing, getting pulled out of a snowy ditch, you may already have it and not know it. Some credit cards include the service. Check with your company to see if you are covered. Believe it or not, most Cell Phone Companies also offer road side assistance. Verizon wireless offering the service for 3 a month. If you are in a fender bender document everything. Your phone is your best friend. Not just pictures of the damage but the roadside, the weather, the skids. Most importantly, document the other drivers information. Diane, just a few simple snaps could save you thousands of dollars in insurance claims. Paula faris on real money for us tonight. When we come back in our instant index, news about a beloved cast member from the movie the sound of music. The hills are alive with the sound of music alive with the sound of music if yand youre talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. This is humira, adalimumab. This is humira working to help relieve my pain. This is humira helping me through the twists and turns. This is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. Doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. For many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. Blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening Heart Failure have occurred. Before starting humira , your doctor should test you for tb. Ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. Tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. You should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. Ask your doctor if humira can work for you. This is humira at work. But with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive,y first. I saw my doctor. A blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. We talked about axiron. The only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. Axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. Women especially those who are or who may become pregnant and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. Report these symptoms to your doctor. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. Serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. Common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting and increase in psa. Ask your doctor about axiron. This is a map of the pressure points on my feet. I have flat feet. I learned where the stress was at the dr. Scholls foot Mapping Center. Then i got my number, which matched the custom fit orthotic inserts with the right support. Find a walmart with a foot Mapping Center at drscholls. Com. Im a believer. Afghanistan in 2009. On the u. S. S. Saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once its earned, usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an Auto Insurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Our monday instant index begins with the time of the year to deck the halls but before you put up your decorations, take a look at this wreath. S do you detect a secret in it . Can you see those are not holy berries but rubies and diamonds. A joint venture between a florist and a jeweler. Its worth 4 million, the most expensive wreath in the world. No kidding. Speaking of christmas, it started as an ordinary day at the national air and space museum in washington d. C. A lone cellist from the u. S. Air force band started playing a christmas classic. Then the band started to grow and grow and grow. Even a harpist joined in and then cue a chorus. Let every heart a hush fell over the crowd as the families relished the flash mob of christmas cheer. Joy to the world and in late news tonight, we have a passing to note, a member of the iconic cast of the movie, the sound of music. All that worrying for nothing, georg. You thought you wouldnt find a friend at the party. The baroness who vied for the captains attention facing off with a plucky nun named maria. The barronness was brought to life by Eleanor Parker who has died at the age of 91. Still ahead here a return to that stadium and the powerful moment in history when Nelson Mandelas simple gesture at a rugby match unified a nation. A look back at the turning point when we return. A look back at the turning point when we return. Or treat gas with these after you get it. Now thats like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. Oh, somebody out theres saying, now i get it take beano before and therell be no gas. 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Nelson, Nelson Nelson reporter in 1995 at the rugby world championship, the moment so powerful, they made a movie out of it. I want to thank you for what you have done for our country. Reporter invictus tells the story of when mandela simply put on a rugby jersey and suddenly, unexpectedly, united this nation. Fracois piennar who captained that spring bok team. When he walked into the dressing room wearing a springbok on his heart, it was just wow reporter for black South Africans, the spring bok symbolized all that was evil about the racist system of apartheid. Blacks played soccer. Whites rugby. The rough nature of the sport, a metaphor for the brutish reality of apartheid. The list of daily indignities ran long and cut deep. In a country 80 black, whites by law owned 90 of the land. Schools were segregated. Inter racial marriages forbidden. What was the like being a black boy in south africa . It was terrible. Reporter 42 year old charlie masala remembers. We met tonight outside mr. Mandelas home. This place we are standing right now is because of mandela. Reporter 24 years ago, blacks were not allowed in this wealthy neighborhood after dark. During this time you and me would have been in jail. You look a little bit black so youd be in jail with me. Reporter masala calls this time sweet sorrow for South Africans. Their Guiding Light is gone, but while it was here, Nelson Mandela used his gifts in a game and changed the world. Byron pitts, abc news, johannesburg. We thank you so much for watching. Abc news will have live coverage of the Nelson MandelaMemorial Service tomorrow morning at 4 00 a. M. Eastern time. Were always here at abcnews. Com. Nightline later and ill see you tomorrow. Tonight, Street Corner marketplaces being taken down. Tonight youll see what is being done to keep streets safe. Another clear, cold night over the bay area, where freeze warnings under affect in just a moment. And east bay boys choir invited to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela. We are facing another fight of subfreezing temperatures from a huge mass of cold air showing signs of releasing its icy grip if the bay area. Looks like were going to get one more night of the frosty conditions before temperatures begin to return to near normal. Black ice formed on freeways overnight. This is highway 24 tochlt begin our length of time, its unbelievable. I was born and raised here. Beginning our Team Coverage lets turn first to live doppler seven hd. Spencer i think were ready for this. I hope we are. Because its first and second night. We should be prepared mentally for this. Its cold already in some spots. This morning the second consecutive morning of the freeze warning, low temperatures dropping to 19 degrees this morning in four bay area locations. Clear lake, santa rosa, napa, and novato. 25 degrees in san jose breaking old record low from this date. Covering bait area, except the city of San Francisco. Look for subfreezing temperatures across the area. Low 20s into inland valleys and below 20 degrees in spots as it did