And a good evening to you on this thursday night. As we come on the air, 100 million americans have been hit by a winter storm packed pretty much with everything in the weather arsenal. This map shows the speed and power of the noreaster. Barreling from texas across the south, up the coast to maine, people forced to abandon cars. After highways turned into skating rinks. If you could dig your cars out, these with only the mirrors poking through. Right now, a prediction of thundersnow and sleet in our extreme weather team is tracking it all. Abcs linzie janis starts us off in the northeast, where the storm is still on the move tonight. Reporter with snow and ice and wind and rain, the storm that crippled the south, killing at least 20 people, is still wreaking havoc. Whiteout conditions, from the nations capital, to the treacherous new york state thruway. Noreaster winds whipping a house fire in new york city, at least seven injured. Also in new york, a pregnant woman was struck and killed by a plow, her baby saved. Pennsylvania still under a state of emergency from the last storm. Just outside philly, we helped 64yearold Rosemary Augustine dig out. She lost power for nearly three days last week and again last night. Well, i got a fur coat. I have been wearing it inside. Reporter her 100yearold mother had to go to the hospital to stay warm. Others in her building, like this toddler with breathing problems, evacuating. Rosemary showed us how shes managing with a gas stove. I boil water in a big pan. Reporter hundreds of schools closed, but in the nations largest district, new york, they stayed open. Meteorologists arguing their prediction was true. Schools should close. New yorks new mayor defending his decision. What we got here, was the high end of the projection, and then some and faster and earlier than expected. Reporter here in philadelphia, we got nine inches of snow today. Some people taking advantage, sledding down these famous steps and its not over yet, diane, another 3 inches to 6 inches expected tonight. Oh, linzie, thank you so much. And were going to head south now, where tonight, families are telling survivor stories after abandoning cars paralyzed on frozen roads. Abcs Steve Osunsami is with them. Reporter more than half an inch of ice finally starting to melt today in augusta, but not before bringing down trees and leaving more than 100,000 still in the dark. Across the south, nearly 500,000 people still without power important. Tonight. For somebody whos sitting at home and doesnt have any power, that is a bad place to be and we understand that. Reporter authorities are warning residents they shouldnt use a fireplace to cook food. Tiara gibbs and her family lost power, and then accidentally burned down their house in atlanta, using their fireplace. This was our only everything we had. Reporter families across seven states will need candles tonight. In charlotte, the people of this Baptist Church recovering from a roof caved in by the snow. In raleigh, survivor stories, from drivers stuck on the ice explaining why they walked away from their cars. Cars around me were just spinning, and i was just waiting for my turn to get hit. And i was like, ive got to get out of here. Reporter tonight, families still have to watch out for falling trees. This is a giant oak tree, and to give you a sense of just how powerful the ice can be, it was brought down not by the wind, not by the snow, but by the weight of the ice. And listen closely to the sound of danger. Falling ice from city skyscrapers, nervous maintenance men came out and blocked off the sidewalks. The building is fine. Reporter it just cant melt fast enough. Steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. And now from all of that ice and the collisions on the roads to the chaos in the skies today, 1 in 5 Flights Canceled. By one calculation, the single worst day for cancellations this winter. More than 1 million travelers across this country delayed, a kind of domino effect. And Abcs David Kerley shows us. Reporter massive snowplows raced to clear and open runways as hundreds of thousands of passengers ive had three flights cancelled. Reporter remain grounded. We were on a flight at 9 00 a. M. That was rebooked to 11 10 and now were rebooked to 7 10 tonight. Reporter while washingtons runways were closed for most of the day, a few flights got in and out of northeast airplanes. Airlines wasted no time cancelling flights, letting many aircraft sit out the storm. That stat, 1 in 5 flights cancelled, translates to 6,400 flights, which rippled throughout the countrys entire airspace. Airlines even moved planes out of the east and will start moving them back tonight. Atlanta was trying to bounce back from its storm, long lines there today. And tonight, a unique look at what workers do all season, spraying deicer, to prep a plane for takeoff. You can kind of tell the different colors of the ice. If theres ice present or snow and youre basically looking to get it off. Reporter this is a gallon of antifreeze. In philadelphia alone, theyll use 20,000 gallons of this. Thats just philly. Good news, diane, theyre moving. Tomorrow should be a much better day. Less than 500 Flights Canceled so far for tomorrow, diane. All right, david, 20,000 gallons in one city alone and what a month this has been. By our count, right here in new york, seven storms in seven weeks. And tonight, a lot of people across this country are praying for warmer weather, abc meteorologist ginger zee is standing by, prayers answered, ginger . Reporter warm enough to have drizzle tonight. Were switching back to snow. The back end of this noreaster is going to flow in. Another 3 inches to 6 inches for folks tonight. Let me tell you whats going to happen, youre getting more snow tonight, anywhere from parts of maryland, delaware already getting it, up through new york city. But friday, valentines day, its clear. But look at cincinnati there, a new snowstorm will slide across on friday night through early saturday morning, and it looks like we could pick up more snow as we go into the weekend. And look at this, diane, if it feels like it has been nonstop, youre right. In new york city, we have had seven days where weve had an inch of snow or larger, 40 inches just since the beginning of 2014. Philadelphia, for example, now in their fifth snowiest year ever. I wanted to show you quickly, last year, just a half a foot, average, more like 12, and then you got 14 there. Then you see, 53. 5 is where were at this year. Diane . The good, the bad and the messy. Thank you, ginger zee. And our team will be covering the storm throughout the night. Now, we head overseas to the Olympic Games in russia where some american athletes won big today, and also, were looking closely at those fierce figure skaters, graceful women flying through the air and then crashing onto the ice. How bruising is that fall. Abcs matt gutman on the ice and on the slopes tonight. Reporter a dazzling olympic debut for daredevil slopestyle skiing. Weve seen women athletes soaring, helicoptering in the air all at speeds over 50 miles an hour. And today, the american men swoop into history. Joss christensen, Gus Kenworthy and nick goepper sweeping the event, only the third time in winter olympic history. In figure skating, experts telling us the skaters are jumping farther than ever before. Its unbelievably hard. Theyre going through the air, three rotations, four rotations, and theyre landing basically on a butter knife. Reporter watch american pair skaters Marissa Castelli and simon shnapir. Watch again. See how high she goes. Keep in mind, hes 64. Look, she rotates four times, barely landing it. Were seeing moves rarely displayed in olympic competition. This chinese pair performing the quad twist. Look at the elevation. Reporter catch that . Watch again. She rotates one, two, three, four times high above his head. Watch germans Aliona Savchenko and robion szolkowy in the last five seconds of their program. A triple axel to rack up points for the win. Watch again. Keep in mind, savchenko, with her legs so tired, she just cant hold on. They finished third. Every jump you have seen on tv, has been practiced hundreds of times. It takes a terrible toll on the athletes bodies and their psyches. Ice skating is arguably the most unforgiving of olympic events. A single stumble could push an athlete out of medal contention. Mens figure skating continues tomorrow with the finals. Thank you so much, matt, great to have you reporting from sochi for us. From russian, we head to afghanistan, where 65 men walked out of prison today, men the u. S. Calls dangerous. Their release is sparking outrage and abcs chief White House CorrespondentJonathan Karl has the latest on how this happened. Reporter just yesterday, they were locked in a highsecurity prison, considered some of the most dangerous men in the world. Taliban fighters captured by u. S. Forces. Today theyre enjoying lunch in a kabul cafe freed under order of afghan President Hamid karzai. Among them, an alleged taliban commander named nurullah. Translator i have no link with any groups. Reporter he denies the charges but has been directly linked to attacks killing at least one american and wounding four others. All told, 65 prisoners were released today from the prison, seen in this exclusive video shot by the bbc. U. S. Officials say they are directly linked to attacks that killed or wounded 32 u. S. And coalition personnel. Many of these people were caught redhanded, the tests on their fingers of explosives on their hands. Reporter its another lowpoint for alreadytattered u. S. Relations with president karzai, who has been trying to get his own peace deal with the taliban. It is of no concern to the u. S. And should be of no concern to the u. S. Reporter president obama, still has to decide how many u. S. Forces should remain in afghanistan after the end of the year. But todays prisoner release is the kind of thing that makes it harder for the u. S. To remain in afghanistan at all. All right, Jonathan Karl reporting from the white house tonight. And if you have a General Motors compact car in your driveway or garage, we have a warning for you tonight. Gm is recalling nearly 780,000 older model compact cars. The reason a faulty ignition switch that could cause an engine to shut down without warning. Its being blamed for at least six deaths and 22 crashes. The cars in question, Chevrolet Cobalt and pontiac g5s made between 2005 and 2007. We have all of the details on our website. And now to the news reaching all of the way to american living rooms tonight, the two goliaths Time Warner Cable and comcast joining forces in a 45 billion deal. Will it happen . 30 million of us asking, what will this mean for our access, our service, and the already skyhigh cable bills . Abcs Rebecca Jarvis breaks it down. Reporter its the new world of cable tv. Amid fierce competition from internet video like netflix and its hit series house of cards, today comcast announced it will team up with Time Warner Cable and grow its footprint from 23 million households to 34 million becoming the nations biggest cable provider, but theyll need government signoff. Were going to find the fcc and congress will be looking very, very closely at the whole business of pricing. Reporter comcast says the deal will benefit american consumers. But some industry watchdogs say, not so. Telling abc news, this deal would lead to Less Consumer choice, less diversity and higher cable bills. And we looked back at other recent mergers today, diane, if precedent serves prices here could go up 0. 5 to 14 in case of a deal. Thank you, Rebecca Jarvis, on this big news tonight. And next tonight a plea for help. One familys fight to reunite two brothers torn apart. One brother living in america and the other stranded. If he came home tonight, we would have a big party. The parents, determined to win this fight when were back in two minutes. They dont know it yet, but theyre gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, theyll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isnt rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. 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Reporter they are a happy, healthy, but in their words incomplete family. Jack has a 5yearold brother, nikolai, whos still in an orphanage in russia. I really want to see him, and if he came home tonight we would have a big party and wed have chocolate and watch movies. Reporter almost four years ago, they were close to reuniting the brothers. It was a certainty. I thought absolutely it was going to go just like our first adoption that we would leave and go home and then we would be back to pick him up. There was never a thought in my mind that we wouldnt return to bring him home. Reporter suddenly, russia changed the law and a ban came into force after a string of highprofile cases. One child sent to america was delivered back alone on a plane, no longer wanted. Another toddler died when his new father left him in a hot car. As the worlds focus is on vladmir putin, renee is now appearing on Russian Television to make a direct appeal. It means everything to us to be able to have his brother home and raise them together. We wouldnt be fighting so hard if it didnt mean so much to us. Reporter lawyers and politicians here are telling abc news there in no doubt that politics has played a part in this. Of course, its children who are caught in the middle. Diane. Thanks so much for this story. By the way, there are hundreds of children affected by the ban on adoptions. All of them still living in russian orphanages. And when we come back a new video, look, a daring walk between hot air balloons, how they survive. Its our instant index, next. Survive. Its our instant index, next. E . Then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. I was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. Im going to have to rethink this thing. Its hard to imagine how much well need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. 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See, the special psyllium fiber in metamucil actually gels. And that gelling helps to lower some cholesterol. Metamucil. 3 amazing benefits in 1 super fiber. Our instant index tonight, begins with a change coming to your facebook page. Starting today, the 150 million facebook users in the u. S. Can choose their gender in a whole new way. Facebook profiles that identify them as male, female, but also, transgender, 50 choices in all. One facebook engineer saying today, it wont impact a lot of people, but for the few it does it means the world. And theres news tonight about the international jewel thieves nicknamed the pink panthers gang, linked to 340 heists in 35 countries, and you can see them in action, right here, smashing that luxury car through the mall in dubai and making off with millions for their getaway. Well, tonight, this man is under arrest, suspected of being a member of the gang. He is serbian, 33 years old, arrested in madrid and Police Believe he was part of a brazen heist, that one we just showed you in dubai. And dont say we didnt warn you, new video just days ago, the group of extreme athletes trying to master a slack line stretching between two hot air balloons, hundreds of feet up in the air, they go down, but dont worry, they had parachutes, what a wild run. By the way, nightline was there with the exclusive access and you can see it all on a special nightline next month. And valentines day in the snow and ice. Coming up, meet the sheriff who announced hes just cancelling romance tomorrow. Just cancelling romance tomorrow. Covering up. So i talked with my doctor. He prescribed enbrel. Enbrel is clinically proven to provide clearer skin. Many people saw 75 clearance in 3 months. And enbrel helped keep skin clearer at 6 months. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. 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Its the number one ge recommended probiotic that helps maintain digestive balance. Stay in the groove with align. And finally tonight, the valentines day challenge in the snow and ice. How do you carry a fragile flower across a river of ice . Abcs Ron Claiborne says, with creativity. Reporter on this day, its one of the most important jobs in america. Get em out there. Reporter delivering those valentines flowers. But today was trouble, with traffic snarled and businesses closed, this North Carolina florist even ground to a halt. This 24hour period, the super bowl for florists, when many do 10 times to 20 times their normal business, last year, 233 million roses were grown just for valentines day. We might be delivering a little late, but, you know, we do what we need to do. Reporter we joined her deliveryman javier diaz, as he set out on foot through slush and snow, determined to deliver this bouquet. While in georgia, the weather so bad, one sheriff actually canceled valentines day in his county, citing safety concerns. I would hope that all the people who are usually on the receiving end would be understanding and would cut us guys some slack. Reporter its all triggered something of a valentines day panic. One person tweeting can this snow please melt now . Tomorrow is valentines day and it better not mess it up. Others are getting creative. Check out these alternative bouquets made of up well, whatevers in your house. Some people, though, just push on. Javier diaz and his precious cargo did make it to where they had to be. Somebody loves you. Reporter after all, whats a little snow okay, a lot of snow when it comes to valentines day. Ron claiborne, abc news, new york. And hope you spend the big night with us tomorrow night. And thank you for watching tonight. Were always here at abcnews. Com. Nightline later. Tonight Excessive Force allegations against a bart Police Officer. Did this Patrol Officer go too far in taking down an uncooperative passenger . A bay area measles warning. You may have been exposeed and if you havent been vaccinateed your chances of getting it are frightening. Can you find love by tapping on a smart phone . How millions use dating apps to meet that special a ride rider refuses to comply with orders but did he deserve to be daysed more than once . We begin with two separate incidents the actions of bay area peace officers are being questioned. First of daysing of a bart passenger and a take down of an off duty park ranger who would later lose her job. Looking into the bart and well start there. And the officer had a warrant for arrest the bart policy says a taser should only be used on individuals posing an immediate threat. The police chief says that was the case. Others dont see it. This is a cell phone video taken by a rider showing a Police Officer daysing a man officers believe was drunk the man is identified looks like hes being confrontational. Later the bart officer d