Good morning, im Marci Gonzalez in for diana perez. And im Muhammad Lila in for john muller. We begin with breaking news this morning as a brutal deep freeze is gripping more than half the nation. More than 500 passengers are now stuck on three amtrak trains heading into chicago because theres so much blowing and drifting snow. Now, all three trains were stopped last night in the Northern Illinois city of mendota, about 80 miles west of chicago. Amtrak says the passengers are being kept comfortable and fed as workers try to reopen the tracks. We will stay on top of this breaking story throughout the morning. And to give you an idea how super frigid this air is water vapors now rising off Lake Michigan in chicago. Usually the frigid lake waters are much colder than the air but this morning the waters are actually warmer than the air above. Chicagos temperature yesterday set a record at ohare airport, 16 degrees below zero. Wow, further north on the lake, these dramatic photos shot by ph
The investigation into the death of the little girl continues her mother is struggling with the loss and the financial challenges of a funeral. Abc7 news is in the newsroom now with a growing effort to support the family. Mayor ed lee says this tragedy has been on his mind since it happened. Tomorrow is sophia lus birthday. She would have turned seven years old. Why did it happen to her . I could not save her life. The driver killed her. She says her heart is forever broken. She and her children were returning from a family dib dinner on new years eve. A driver hit them as they were in the crosswalk. In San Franciscos tender loin. The truck coming to us. And thr throw slow down. The driver slow down. Really slow. I was thinking woe stop. The mother says she has lost her angel. Sophias little brother was hurt and didnt understand his sister is gone. Parents at the school have started a fund raising drive. We heard that they didnt have any finances to plan a memorial or a funeral. We wer
We heard that they didnt have any finances to plan a memorial or a funeral. We were worried about the costs and you know lucy not working and personal costs. Police arrested a 57yearold driver for the on demand car service uber. The company says he was not working at the time of the accident and has since been dismissed. Supervisor jane kim wants stit to take a look at what she calls the gray area of who is responsible. We have a new type of business that only just begun to get regulated at state level. No clear answers about when there is liability. Whoever is to blame it doesnt bring back this mothers child. I lost my daughter that day. The family can now start planning the funeral the fundraiser has netted 11,000 so far. If you would like to donate we have information on the web site. Just click on see it on tv. In the newsroom, im Carolyn Tyler thank you. Tonight an arrest in a arson attack. The fbi said it has the man who torched the chinese consulate in San Francisco it happened
Hospital. The family moved her from the hospital to a undisclosed Catholic Organization. Ktvus john fowler explains what the family says they hope will happen next. The body of jahi mcmath is on a ventilator at the facility. The family refusing to accept the finality of her death. The news crews are now gone and so is jahi mcmath. A socalled Evacuation Team showed up for a ambulance before 8 00 p. M. Last night. I gave her a kiss and said i will see her soon. Reporter the family contacted 5 different facilities and one agreed to accept her. They wont say where. The people who made this happen were a Catholic Organization that believes in the right to life. Reporter three doctors agreed she is dead. The family demanded the hospital do surgery on her body, went to court and lost. The family says donations are paying the bills. Receiving all of the healthcare that any human being should deserve to have. Reporter a deeper tragedy may come later. If other families refuse or delay Organ Dona
Thanks for joining us everyone. Im betty nguyen. The polar vortex is right here, right now and its sending temperatures plummeting to the lowest levels in decades. Here in new york, readings fell 55 degrees in just a matter of hours. And it is similar across the country. Its all life threatening, record breaking and travel tangling. For many, the worst is just beginning. Brave tracie potts is live in washington. How does it feel where you are, tracie . Reporter it feels cold. But feels cold pretty much everywhere around the country. We woke up to single digit temperatures with windchills at 5, 10, 15 below. Thats nothing compared to what theyre seeing in the midwest. Its actually warmer in minneapolis this morning. Minnesota has some of the coldest temperatures in the nation today. The midwest frost comes on top of record snow that closed indianas major interstate. Several counties there are in a state of emergency. In milwaukee, power crews are out, in it, trying to keep the lights on