Empty shelves, people rushing out for the essentials preparing for feet of snow. Abcs Karla Barguiarena has the details. Reporter this morning, one last mad dash to prepare for a potentially historic blizzard. Outside a costco in virginia lines to get in and lines to check out as stores try to keep up with the demand. D. C. Is really not ready for this kind of weather. Reporter the same scene at this trad joes supermarket in the Nations Capital. Pick the next ten. Repeporter fced to limit customers to tent a time. Shelves of water a are now virtually empty and show shovels disappearing just as fast. Were down to like our last few of them which is like three or four. Reporter also preparing, the federal government, which announced it would be closing at noon today ahead of the epic winter storm. D. C. s Public Transportation including railnd bus service will be closing later today too. Everything line up for a major storm system affecting thehe eastern third of the country and affecting at least 50 million people. Reporter at Reagan International airport, deicers on staby as all Major Airlines offer passengers waivers to rebook their flights. For those staying home like Ryan Williams in philadelphia, one last stop before the snow arrives. Well, i already hit the grocery store, but i mean honestly when were being truthful, the most important thing is wine and whiskey. Reporter Karla Barguiarena, abc news, new york. Okay, so one of the many questions right now is how much snow can be expected and where is the storm right now. Accuweather meteorologist justin povovick tracng it all. Good morning to you, justin. Reena, kendis, thanks, and good morning to you, as well. As we are folling this storm system, were already noticing all the moisture, all the heavy rain and even some Severe Weather that is tearing across the gulf coast states along interstate 10. Large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. And now were starting to be more and more concerned about the wintry aspect. Major ice storm conditions into North Carolina and then later on this evening into tonight, blizzard conditions developing, d. C. , baltimore, philadelphia, this is one for the history books, whiteout conditions and look at our snowfall accumulation map here, one to two feet. More so toward d. C. , baltimore and philadelphia, some areas here approaching two feet plus. And then we have the coastal impacts, and these are rather significant. This will the highest surf we have seen since sandy. Beach erosion, coastal f flooding, bigtime concerns here as we head through the weekend. Reena, kendis, back to you. One for the history books. Did you hear about this one, bright spot about all of this, for some in washington, d. C. , for the first time in decades sledding is again allowed on capitol hill. Its still against the law, but the Capitol Police have been told not to reinforce it. And heres a hint of what d. C. Might be in for. Take alook at ese pictures from washington. This was after the blizzard of 191922. Wow. 28 inches of snow fell. The greatest oneday snowfall ever for the city. Check out the slide show at abcnews. Com. Well, there is breaking news in northorea. North korea is detaining an american student for what it says was a hostile act. The state newagency says Otto Frederick warmbier entered north korea as a tourist. Hes a student at the university of virginia. No word on what that act was but north korea says warmbier has ties to the u. S. Government. The u. S. Embassy in seoul is aware of the arrest. Okay, back here at home the verbal smackdown is on between republican president ial candidates donald trump and ted cruz. Campaigning in las vegas last night, trump did address some issues, resurrecting his promise to bui a border wall and make mexico pay for it. But even a doubledigit lead in the polls isnt stopping his moment, and he blew it. Hes a very striking person. Nobody likes him. Take a look, he has republican senator, he doesnt have one endorsement from one senator, number one. Number two, wasnt born in this country. Now for the most part cruz is staying away from trash talk aiming his most criticical words at the republican establishmhment and the obama administration, as well, but he is firing back at trump suggesting to Abcs George Stephanopoulos that the frontrunners priorities are completely misplaced. I would suggest that the next commander in chief instead of living or dying by the daily polls and by the latest twitter storm should focus on identifyg our enemies, listening to the expert advice of generals and admirals and National Security experts and dodoing whater is necessary to keep this country safe. Well, cruz is also explaining to george why hes far more qualified than trump to be president. Good morning america. For the democrats Hillary Clinton is getting an endorsement from a pop star. Demi lovato joined clinton on age last nht at a rally in iowa. Lovato performed the song confident before introducing the democrat. A new poll shows Bernie Sanders in iowa. She turned up the heat on sanders during an appearance on cnn. Do you believe the American People are ready to elect a socialist as president of the United States . Well, let me say this, again, its up to the voters. I know a number of democrats, people who i highly respect, are concerned and are expressing that concern to me, to journalists and others. Bernie sanders is remaining confident. During a speech in New Hampshire sanders touched on the new poll telling the crowd that, quote, werlooking at one of the great political upsets in modern history. Wewell, stilahead, a child seat maker recalling a popular accused of flying a passenger plane while drunk. Thats going viral for the wrong reasons. A doctor caught on camera fighting with an uber driver. Taking aion. Hey, its not that unusual to see alligators roaming around floridas backyards, but one family says a giant crocodile took up temporary residence in their swimming pool. The nearly eightfooootlong cc eventually sauered away while wildlife crews captured it and brought it back where it belongs. Well, the federal government is now responding to the water crisis in flint. Lead sampling in the city and make the results public, and the regional epa director who oversaw flinhas resigned. Meanwhile, officials in michigan say they still arent sure whether the contaminated water is linkeked to a sden increase in the number of legionnaires disease. The ntsb wants to lower the legal alcohol lilimit for ivers. Safety officials are pushing for thlimit to be 0. 05 or even thats eququal to abt one drink for a woman and two for men. They say impairment begins well before the current level of 0. 08. Thousands of child care seats, child car seats are being recalled because of a safety hazard. Britax child safety is recalling more than 71,000 infant seats because the carrying handles can break. Safe 35, the be se 35 elite and the be safe 35 travel system made between october 2014 and july of last year. We do have full details on our website, abcnews. Com. A recruiting site has ranked the best jobs in america, and you better polish off your computer skills. Engagement manager has a nice 125,000 base salary. The third on the list is solutions architect. Number two is tax manager and according to glass door, the number one job right now is data scientist. Astronaut was not included on the list apparently among others. All right, when we come back, talk about a close call. A Police Officer taking quick action avoiding a swerving big for one skier. Live picture of washington, d. C. And it is a calm before the storm. A look down pennsylvania avenue. This picture will look a lot different later tonight. Blizzardlike conditions are expected there. The Nations Capital already reeling from wednesday nights mild snowstorm is taking every measure to get ready. Yes, schools out today in washington and some of its suburbs. The metro subway system is not going to be running this w weekend at all and federal offices are shutti down today at noon. Taking a look at the morning commute, icy all the way from the ohio valley t the midatlantic seaboard. Drivers likely to find snow in the western mountains and the sierra. Ybe even as far south as l. A. A. Deep south. This is where the trouble is. Memphis, atlanta, miami, washington, san francisco, if you pn on flying today. A former Airline Pilot has been arrested forlying a plane from oregon to california apparently drunk. David arns stone worked for alaskan airlines. He failed a random drug test after landing in Orange County from portland with a blood alcohol level of 0. 13. Well above the legal limit. Alaska Airlines Says he never flew again after the 202014 flight and resigned rather than being fired. He has been released on bail and ordered back to Court Next Month and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. An oklahoma judge has come down hard on a former Police Officer convicted of raping women during his patrols giving him a consecutive sentencnce o 263 years in prison. On for several months sexually assaulting women who were afraid to come forward. That is, until one of his victims, a neighborhood grandmother turned him in. A miami doctor has been suspend and could lose her job after she was caught on camera going off on an uber driver. She is seen here slapping and kicking the driver and heard launchg a verbal tirade. The driver says she was drunk, but has decided no the to press charges and it turns out she hadnt even ordered the car but jumped in when she saw the uber sign. Uber needless to say has suspended her account. Dont mess with maria. Thats the Lesson Learned after a confrontation between a suburban boston store owner and a wouldbe robber armed with a knifes demanded all the money in the register but mariey alalves was ready and gave him a good swat. Grabbed it then i smack him with this he says i dont want to get this trouble. I dont want to get this trouble. In almost a decade its only use one of her clubs. She is going to pray for the young man and shed like to talk to him. Well, an incredibly close call for lufkin, texas, Police Officers as a tractor trailer rounds a corner too fast. Its empty lowboy trailer almost takes ow the cops and cruiser. After posting this they found the driver and apologized and said his brakes didnt lock up. He didnt see the police or he wod have stopped and checked on them of course, seeing a deer isnt really a shock unless you are youre barreling down a ski slope. She caught the much too Close Encounter while skiing in sun valley. Although shes a former free skiing World Champion angel says this has never happened to her before. One she wont forget. The super bowl mchup will be set this weekend with two conference title games. Cardinals play the Carolina Panthers weather should be manageable. Are the panthers manageable . They went on a 12game winning streak at the start of the season. Patriots are getting out of new england for sundays game in denver. The pats are always pretty intense in their game prep but especially so for the qb. Theres no player off our team i have any more respect for than Peyton Manning so his preparation is consistency, his skill skills i will never ever ever underestimate him under any circumstances. Well, that said he has had arm trouble and missed six games and has thrown 17 interceptions compared to just nine touchdowns. It still should be a pretty good classic matchup between manning and brady. Up next in the pulse, shared dedication. The o oldest barber in the hair cutting hair at over 100 years old. Strum per ter, the mususician yeah i have asthma. One of many pieces in my life. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. Ononcedailyreo prevents asthma symptoms. Breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Breo wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. Breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. Breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a differt asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Do not take breo more than prescribed. See your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. Could be a missing piece for you. See if youre eligible for 12 months free at mybreo. Com. This winter, you have the power to heal. Because your purchase of vaseline intensive care lotion, supports the vaseline healing project. Join us to help millions in crisis heal their skin. This is joanne. Her long day as a hair stylist starts with shoulder pain when. Hey joanne, want to trade the all day relief of 2 aleve with 6 tylenol . Give up my 2 aleve for 6 tylenol . No thanks. For me. Its aleve. Our next item is a genuine name your price tool. This highly soughtafter device from progressive can be yours for. Twenty grand . No we are giving it away for just 3 easy payments of 4. 99 plus tax the lines are blowing up weve got deborah from poughkeepsie. Flo yeah, no, its flo. You guys realize anyone can use the name your price tool for free on progressive. Com, right . [ pickles whines ] i know, its like theyre always on tevision. What . Time now to check the pulse. Savvy students trying to trick a tv station. Our affiliate in chattanooga, tennessee, shared a twitter back and forth. Started with this direct message saying inform students of no school. The station said, ha, ha, nice try. You obviously dont know the password. The station then tweeted, kid, dont direct message us pretending you are some School Official canceling school. Were not that dumb. But you know what, i would probably give these kids an att q for effort. In the end they won because the county did end up closing the school so they were kind of ahead of the system the county fooled it. It may be snonowing but a dating app says this will be a hot weekend. Itll be warm indoors. Hinge saw a 47 spike in activity on the east coast during the january snowstorm a year ago and last year the average hinge user logged in tinder also expecting more swipes. Last year one guys profile went viral making it clear he wanted to, quote, party during the storm. Is that what the kids call it in these days. I guess its party. There will be a lot of party babies in october apparently. On the map. Yeah, a barber in new york state has no plans to retire even though hell be 105 in a few im just trying to make sure i am in the clear. I never saw you tongue tied. Anthony mans nelly starting cuttg hair when Calvin Coolidge was in the white house and never stopped. He has b been recognized as t world oldest basher and works at least five days a week. Hours dont matter with me. I dont get tired. I just i keep gogoing. And in case you were wondering his hands are just as customers keep coming ck. Good. All right. I love this. Heres something every beginning musicians parents can relate to the first recital. Its music to their ears and only their ears. But this boys bring i would Say Something special to it when he finishes his piece. [ applause ] yeah. Yeah, the fist pump and doing a Michael Jackson impersonation and then the big finish. Oh, off the stage. Oh. We dont know who he is but we hope hes doing fine this morning. More news after this. Soup and sandwich and somewhere to go, and clean d real a nowhere to be, and warmth and looking good, and sandwich and soup and insidede jokes, and dan is back the clean pairings menu. 500 calories or less. At panera. Food as it should be. I accept im not 22. I accept i do a shorter set these days. I even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. But i wont play anythingess than my best. So if theres Something Better than warfarin, im going for it. Eliquis. Eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus it had significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis had both. Thats what i wanted to hear. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer thanusual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care e for sudden signs of bleeding, li unusual bruising. If you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. I accept i dont play. Quite like i used to. But im still bringing my best. And going for eliquis. Reduced risk of stroke plus less major bleeding. Ask your doctor. If switching. To eliquis is right for you. Breaking overnight north korea has detained a university of virginia student touring the country. The official News Agency Says he committed a hosti act but doesnt say what. That massive storm system set to bring blizzard conditions to the east coast caused this overnight. There are reports of trees down as well as mobile homes destroyed. Washington, d. C. Is promising this snowstorm wont be aepeat of the other night. With unpassable roads, 4,000 salt trucks are ready to coat the region starting today. Schools are closed today and t the federal government closes at noon. Today heavy rain in central and Northern California and further north snow and freezing rain moving from the ohio valley to the midatlantic region. And finally from us the late night comics admitting they received a gift. Sarah palin was a gold mine for them. Backn the news, here now your friday funnies. While trump admittedly has given me so much material to make jokes about, nobody compares to the original material girl. Im here to support the next president of the United States, donald trump. I thi she just likes him because trump sounds like a name she would give one of her kids. Endorsing donald trump. Listen. The selfie sticks and the greek columns and all that hopeychangey stuff. You with the hands that rock the cradle, right wing and bitter cling and proud clingers. What . Let me just tase the part of my brain that understands sentence structure. Fighthting eac other and yelling all la akbar calling jihads on each others heads. Like i said, let them duke it out. Is she still talking . If you watch trump during that speech you can actually hear what hes thinking. Watch again. He is the master at the art of the deal. He is one who would i wonder why sheeeps sayining deal. Does she think im a pickle king of new york . Palin described trump as a great leader while trump being quiet for 20 minutes was the most painful experience in his let the wriors and go kick isis bleep mr. Can i get a hallelujah. Hallelujah, woo, woo. Woo. Woo sarah palin just guaranteed trump the evangelical vote because i think she was speaking in tongues. Amen to sarah palin being back on the campaign trail. Absolutely. And we want to remind you folks ll be crazy with weather. Well have a lot more on gma with reporters across the country. Thats whats making news in america this morning. Have a good weekend, stay safe. Team. Good morning iowa starts now elias good morning iowa im . . . Its x 00 am on friday, january 22nd thanks for joining us