And a good cold evening to you on this wednesday night. As we come on the air, half of the country is in a deep freeze. Serious enough that the states are issuing a windchill alert for millions and millions of americans. And its not just a problem for the roads. So many people are stepping out on to the snow and sliding on pure ice. Our extreme weather team, once again, out in force. From the frozen streets to the passengers still stuck at the airports. And well start with abcs gio benitez. Reporter as that bitter winter storm pulled out, people all over the east coast were left digging out. In new england, winds blowing all that snow around, 35mileperhour gusts. Here in plymouth, massachusetts, americas hometown, even that iconic Plymouth Rock is covered in snow. More than 13 inches of snow falling here, enough for this ice cream shop to jokingly put up a sign, see you in spring. People like jeff spooner, clearing snow from in front of businesses. Hes been at it since 6 00 a. M. Youre
An equally widespread data Mining Operation by the nsa, the nations spy agency in washington, after much deliberation the president today decided to talk about how the operation works and how it should work. While he defended the techniques the government uses to protect its citizens and said theres no evidence of an abuse of power, he is calling for changes. It likely will not be enough for those who say these leaks have been proof that we have traded away our privacy in the electronic age. Its where we begin tonight with our chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. Reporter today the president took the short trip from the white house to the Justice Department to issue new orders for the spy agency. Even while saying theyve broken no laws. There are fewer and fewer technical constraints on what we can do. That places a special obligation on us to ask tough questions about what we should do. Reporter mr. Obama stoutly defended the mass collection of phone records but said
For bringing this on. Starting this fire. Palm trees sway as flames descend. Every light at the foot at the mountain a home. And this home from above engulfed in flames. The fire just miles from that iconic hollywood sign. And abcs david wright is on the ground. Reporter bonedry bush plus hot santa ana winds. All it takes is a spark. And this is the result. The spark that caused this blaze. We went up to the front line. The flames just feet from these homes. Its right behind there, you can see. Coming down. Reporter captain reuben montanes and his group, doing their best to defend these houses, while they waited for air support. Busy dousing hotspots nearby. The cavalry has arrived. The helicopters, attacking these flames just in time. It looks like this homeowner is very lucky today. But theres still a long, dry winter ahead. Not everyone was so lucky. Weve been airborne since early this morning. Weve seen five homes go up in flames. They hit it with everything they could. Helicopters
Good evening to you on this monday night. And as we start this week together, 163 million americans are in the path of three, big, winter storms, and a kind of Chain Reaction of travel trouble across the country. And each, new storm on the way is more powerful than the last. Abcs linzie janis starts us off with all of the people caught on the kind of Conveyor Belt of wicked winter weather, tonight. Keep on coming. Reporter from the midwest to the northeast, another wet, heavy, slippery mess. An army of plows in new york can barely keep up. The citys new mayor, bill deblasio, had trouble handling staten islands answer to Punxatawney Phil on sunday. Now, hes handling his third winter storm. I am learning about snow removal, more than i ever expected to. Reporter schools closed, from the northeast all the way to ohio. Whiteout conditions in illinois. Trucks pushing trucks in oklahoma, to a sea of snowy wrecks in arkansas. Its also busting budgets. Cities like milwaukee are running out of
Pelley good evening. This is our western edition. In much of the country tonight its warmer inside the fringe than outside the front door. Have a look. Across the upper states the lows today were preceded by minus signs. The deep freeze reached deep in the heart of texas with lows in the low 30s. More than 241 million americans saw it below freezing today. In indiana, lets have a look at this for a moment. There was a pileup involving at least seven tractortrailer rigs. One person was killed in this accident. This part of i94, 60 miles from chicago, is going to be closed for a while. Ferries crossing between new york and new jersey had to navigate through ice on the hudson. Jamie yuccas of our cbs station wcco is in one of the coldest places minneapolis. Jamie . Reporter scott, it reached six degrees below zero for a High Temperature today with a windchill of minus 10. This cold isnt just a nuisance, its a danger. Minnesota is on track for its coldest winter in 33 years. In the last 24