top of the hour now here on this american morning. good morning to you all on this wednesday, january 12th. there is lots to talk about this morning. top of mind, of course, the weather. so let s get right to it. the northeast belted by snow again. two storms colliding and then exploding with snow. it has been a week of extreme weather. get this. 49 out of the 50 states in the united states of america have snow on the ground right now. also, the parents of the accused tucson, arizona, gunman speaking out for the first time and they re apologizing. we ll have all the new details on the story including the promising update about congresswoman giffords condition. some say he s the gop s best hope in 2012, new jersey governor chris christie. the fiscal conservative as he s called taking on unions, making harsh cuts in the face of a
of it all. while the city s preparing for the worst to avoid more criticism. struggling south. the ice storm in atlanta, and the travelers still stranded today. and somber scene. remembering the victims of the tucson rampage before today s presidential visit. it s wednesday january 12th. from abc news this is world newers now. that picture says it all. good morning, everybody, from our little winter wonderland here in new york city. i m rob nelson. so wonderful to be an anchor inside the studio today. warm, toasty. good to be back, yeah. i m vinita nair. commuters across the northeast are getting ready for another rough morning on the roads and the rails. just look at times square.
storm walloping the northeast. we ll tell you what it means, how wonderful it is to be outside right now, and what you can expect. private moments. the pictures taken inside gabby giffords hospital room as tucson remembers victims of the rampage. and family disturbance. the formerly homeless man with the golden voice gets in trouble. it s wednesday, january 12th. from abc news, this is world news now. well, good morning, everyone. from what you can see is a very snowy new york city. i m rob nelson. and i m vinita nair. as you can see, i m business on the top, blizzard on the bottom. the snow and ice storm that has paralyzed much of the south is now pounding the northeast.
as the south still digs out, a major winter storm slamming the northeast. a so-called weather bomb. we will tell you about this unusual winter weather system and how it s going to impact people like us in the northeast who still have to go to work today. tucson tragedy. the suspect s family s first comments and lawmakers taking drastic action to protect themselves. and cyber glitch. a smartphone problem involving private text messages and a lot of hang-ups. it s wednesday january 12th. from abc news, this is world news now. good morning, and thanks for joining us. with a limited budget we wanted to show you what it would be like to be in the middle of times square. so what you re looking at is
killed those for several weeks. so the sky is not falling. that i can report. and the world is not ending i don t think. that s more of an educated guess. next question, true or false. health reform which passed last year and goes into effect in parts this year is dead on arrival. false. seriously, can we hit the buzzer again for emphasis? thank you. health reform is not dead on arrival. that s not to say the republicans in the house aren t trying to kill it. they are. the house will vote on repealing what they are calling the job killing health care law next wednesday, january 12th. seriously the sky will fall before senate democrats let that vote mean anything. in fact, a whole new round of health reform benefits kicked in on january first including a requirement that your insurance company spend at least 80% of your premiums on actually, you know, caring for you. okay. last question.