and in the east, washington, d.c., philadelphia, new york, bracing for snow and brutal cold. rob marciano timing it all out. there is news tonight as this country approaches january 6th. tonight, what the attorney general said today, vowing to hold people accountable, quote, at any level. tonight, right here, the officers who came under attack, sitting down with me one year later. what they ask of their fellow americans, republicans, democrats, and independents. their warning about what they believe could still happen. and what they said when asked about accountability and the former president. one week after jeffrey epstein's associate ghislaine maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking minors, tonight, the news involving a juror and what that juror revealed after the verdict. tonight, maxwell's defense team y you. the major tennis star forced to leave the country because of his vaccine status. and tonight here, we pay tribute to america's oldest world war ii veteran, passing away at 112. what a story. america strong. good evening and it's great to have you with us here on a wednesday night. that news just coming in from the cdc on boosters tonight. also, those two storms we're tracking. new york city, down to washington, d.c. but we are going to begin tonight with the horror unfolding in philadelphia today. a devastating fire killing 13 people, including seven children. tonight here, the images coming in. the fire breaking out in a second floor apartment of a three-story row house. as many as 26 people inside. and tonight, authorities say this is the deadliest single fire in philadelphia in at least a century. firefighters rushing to the scene, knocking out the windows, quickly knocking down the flames today. neighbors gathering outside in the bitter cold, waiting for word. several family members then mourning the loss of loved ones. and the firefighters overwhelmed by the toll. so many children among those lost. the firefighters embracing on the scene, too. tonight, the investigation already under way, and abc's trevor ault leading us off now from philadelphia. >> reporter: tonight in this philadelphia neighborhood, families and firefighters searching for answers. >> it's a sad, sad day for both the philadelphia fire department and the citizens of the city of philadelphia. >> reporter: the horrifying scene unfolding just after 6:30 this morning. firefighters knocking down the flames in less than an hour, but it was already too late. at least 12 people killed, eight of them children. isaiah brown says several of those victims were his cousins. >> you know, they babies, babies, man. young children. you know what i'm saying? didn't even get to experience life. >> reporter: the two-unit row home is owned by the philadelphia housing authority. fire officials say as many as 26 people were inside. 18 in the upper unit. and none of the building's smoke detectors were working. >> keep all of these folks and especially these children in your prayers. losing so many kids is just devastating. >> reporter: and david, investigators are now working to figure out the cause here. one avenue they're exploring is whether this was potentially sparked by a christmas tree fire. and there's many questions about those smoke detectors. the housing authority says during an inspection back in may, they were working. david? >> just a horrific scene in philadelphia today. trevor, thank you. we're going to move on now and to the pandemic. as the omicron variant surges across the country, a cdc panel late today now recommending those pfizer booster shots for teenagers 12 to 15 years old. the fda has already signed off on this. those booster shots could be available for teens within days now. and tonight, the debate over schools. and whether to stay in the classroom raging on. in chicago, the teachers there, the union, voting to go remote. more than 300,000 schoolchildren suddenly back home. tonight, authorities there saying schools are safe, after president biden said the same thing. here's abc's erielle reshef. >> reporter: tonight, a cdc panel paving the way for the next round of boosters, voting to recommend a third pfizer shot for 12 to 15-year-olds five months after vaccination. >> the motion passes as written. >> reporter: but so far, more than a third of 12 to 17-year-olds still haven't gotten their first vaccine shot. and now a record number of children with covid are going into hospitals. >> the overwhelming majority of kids who are hospitalized with covid are not vaccinated, either because they're not eligible or because they haven't yet gone out and gotten the shot. >> reporter: it comes as covid cases hit record levels, and tonight, a major showdown in chicago. city schools suddenly canceling classes, leaving more than 300,000 families scrambling after the teachers' union voted to switch to virtual learning. >> we wanted to shift to remote learning just for a little while until the surge goes down. >> reporter: the union calling conditions unsafe, demanding more testing and better masks. but the mayor accusing teachers of an illegal work stoppage. many parents forced to find last-minute childcare. families caught in the middle. >> i think everybody's prioritizing themselves and not thinking about the children and they're the ones that are going to lose out the most. >> reporter: and as for when we could see those boosters for 12 to 15-year-olds, the cdc director has acted swiftly on these panel recommendations, so we should see the shots going into arms as soon as tomorrow. david? >> all right, erielle reshef with us tonight. erielle, thank you. this evening, we're tracking those two winter storms. 38 states under winter alerts from washington state all the way to the east coast. heavy snow coming down in minneapolis today. and here in the new york city area, hundreds of accidents reported on icy roads this morning. a 35-car pileup in westchester county. now the next storm set to hit d.c., philadelphia, and new york. let's get right to senior meteorologist rob marciano tracking it all for us. hey, rob. >> reporter: hey, david. it was a messy start today. we've got another couple of systems to get through here, they are on the map. the one that's coming through tonight, that's going to bring the cold air that will bring brutal wind chills to chicago, st. louis and indianapolis tomorrow, but that low in denver quickly swimming through the southeast tomorrow. it will be snowing in places like nashville and up through west virginia by this time tomorrow night. then into the new york city area, i-95 is going to see it from d.c. to new york all the way to boston. 2 to 6 inches of snow come friday morning. it will be slick. david? >> rob marciano with us tonight. thanks, rob. tomorrow, this nation will mark one year since the attack on the capitol. and tonight, news from the attorney general, merrick garland, who said today when it comes to investigating those responsible, he vowed to hold people accountable, quote, at any level. tonight, right here, three of the officers who came under attack sitting down with me one year later. what they ask of their fellow americans, republicans, democrats, independents. their warning right here tonight about what they believe could still happen in this country. and what they said when i asked about accountability and the former president. this is the first time that all three of you have sat down for an interview since you testified? >> yes. >> correct. >> nearly a year later, do you all still live this? >> yes. every single day. the way i sleep. getting breakfast, making sure i don't hurt myself putting my shirt on. the phone calls from the justice department, from the fbi, asking for, do i recognize this individual? i had two surgeries already. it hasn't been easy. >> i think it's just as simple as -- working a crime scene, you know? going to work at the capitol every day is a constant reminder of, you know, what happened. i return to the crime scene every single day. >> you have talked about what you saw, what you heard that day. >> everybody knows what happened and if you disagree with what happened, then i don't know what to tell you, because we watched -- america, the world, watched this attack. got to the point where i stopped trying to convince people about what happened and how i want accountability for what did happen, so -- >> you talked about the racial slurs. saying it was the first time anyone had ever hurled a slur at you while wearing the uniform. >> yeah. you know, it's so much that happened that day, there's still so much horror and trauma that happened that day to a white guy and a dominican guy. >> do you remember that moment? >> sure. >> when it was finally over with and you were sitting on the floor at the capitol and you turned to your friend and you asked that question? >> is this america? how could something like that happen? you know -- at the u.s. capitol, the pinnacle of democracy. >> sergeant gonell, you were beaten with a flag pole. you had chemicals sprayed at you. so much of it that it soaked your clothes right through to your skin. and you've said there were moments when you actually thought you were going to die. >> yes. i struggled, because i was getting pulled. i didn't want to get pulled into the crowd. they were pulling me by my leg, by my shield, by my shoulder strap, and we don't know what those people had in those bags. there's nothing i could do, because i couldn't even move my arms. i thought to myself that i wouldn't make it out of there alive. >> you thought your life was in greater danger in those moments than during your entire deployment in iraq? >> yes, sir. >> what were they saying to you? >> what were they not saying? >> traitor. >> traitor. join us. you're breaking your oath. >> some of them were showing badges. >> that happened with me. in the moment, like -- you know, like, what the hell, a badge? >> i did see people with military paraphernalia. veterans, army for trump, veteran for trump. >> i know you finally got home, 4:00 a.m. >> yes. >> and your wife wanted to give you a hug. >> she did. and it pains me. and all she wanted to do was hug me, because she had been watching tv since it started. and i knew that if i would have hugged her, all those chemicals would have transferred to her. she put a blanket and decide to hug her and when i did that, i was crying, like, for about ten minutes. i didn't say much, just cried, you know, in her arms. then i went to see my son and i cried some more. >> officer hodges, you describe what people were wearing that day, you said ballistic vests, helmets, goggles, military face masks. >> yeah, they weren't just there to listen to people speak. it wasn't just a rally. they were ready for violence. that's what they had planned on. it was premeditated. they had a plan of action. and, you know, as we saw, they followed through with it. >> the country, the world now knows that moment in the doorway. >> help! >> can you still see and hear the voices, and in particular, that man who was standing across from you? >> oh, absolutely. because of the way i was being crushed, i literally could not not look at him, so, i remember just the intensity of his guttural screams and i swear i remember him foaming at the mouth. and just grabbing at my mask and ripping it off my head, straining my neck. ripping away my baton, beating me in the head with it. >> you said at one point he had a cell phone in his mouth so he could use both hands to get at you? >> yes. it was just the absolute zealotry of these people was unreal. they were completely convinced that without any evidence whatsoever that the election was stolen and that they were doing the right thing. >> hang mike pence! >> they were in that cult of personality. their leader had told them what to do and they were going to do it. >> what were you thinking? >> i remember -- so, the way that i was pinned was that i had the door to my right and then just the crush of people and a shield on my left to where my arms were like this. and i was standing pretty much straight up, so i couldn't get any strength from my legs in that posture and i couldn't effectively use my hands. >> did you think you were going to get through that? >> i mean, it crossed my mind at the time that, you know, this might be it. >> a texas man has now been arrested and indicted for that moment in the doorway. and i'm -- >> good. good. >> honestly, it had been so long since the sixth that i didn't think they were going to find him. they were able to track him down and arrest him, so, he's going to face justice one way or another. >> i know all three of you have witnessed how politicized this has all become, and i'm not interested in talking about the daily political back and forth, but some of these moments are difficult to ignore. you had a congressman from georgia, andrew clyde, who said, "if you didn't know the tv footage was video from january 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit." >> yeah. >> i'm not sure if he had watched when hodges was screaming, when i was fighting for my life. i had the injuries. i could show it to him if he wants, if he would like to. >> you've lost servicemembers and you've lost several to suicide. >> yeah. >> yeah. that's tough. >> do you think there's been a lot of quiet suffering? >> absolutely. i'm a huge proponent of mental health awareness and it needs to be checked and i just make that plea to people. get help. it's okay. >> as we mark this one-year mark -- >> yeah. >> do you feel safer? >> those individuals who were there, they thought that they were in the right and they would stop at nothing, because they were empowered by somebody in the highest power, position of power in the united states. >> that person in power, former president trump. >> correct. >> what would you say -- not to republicans or democrats or independents on this one-year mark, what would you say to your fellow americans about why that day should be remembered? >> people have this conception of american democracy being invincible, that something like what happened on january 6th couldn't happen. >> and it happened. >> and it did happen. >> you believe it's possible we see something like that again? >> oh, 100%. >> yes. >> you all still want accountability for anyone who helped plan this. >> yes. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. i almost lost my life multiple times because of that day. >> what does accountability mean to you? >> these people who attack me, who attack us, from the planning, financing, everything that needs to be investigated, i mean -- >> when you look back at that rally that morning and the former president -- >> yes. i do hold him accountable. he's the only person who had influence over those people. you could give him the benefit of the doubt that he was not involved. you can say that he didn't know for about an hour. what did he do in the hours after the first hour? you can't tell me that he did not know. and that event, i'm sure it was playing on all the tv at that time. for several hours. so, the notion that he did not know or he acted swiftly -- no. i don't buy that. >> i just have to hope that, you know, they're doing everything they can to see that the people in power get what they deserve. >> and if that means the former president? >> absolutely. i don't care who it means. you got to deal with this harshly and quickly. in order for -- in order to squash any thoughts of this happening again, which i guarantee you people are imagining this happening again. >> right now. >> right now. >> those officers pushing for accountability, warning that without it, this could happen again. i want to bring in our chief justice correspondent pierre thomas tonight at the justice department. pierre, we both heard what the attorney general said today, vowing to go after those responsible for january 6th at every level, were his words. this attorney general, we know, facing pressure from many who say this investigation should not just be about the people who showed up, but about the people who planned this, who encouraged this, and, of course, questions do remain about the former president. the a.g. carefully choosing his words today. >> reporter: david, it was clear from his speech today that this investigation is far from over. he said, quote, the actions we have taken thus far will not be our last. and he made clear he's not just going after people at the scene, but anyone who was criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. he did not mention former president trump by name, but made a point of saying, we will follow the facts wherever they may lead. david? >> pierre thomas live at the justice department. pierre, thank you. we will have much more of our interview with the officers later tonight on "nightline." and their message to fellow officers who they fear are quietly suffering. when we come back here tonight, the major news involving ghislaine maxwell. after her conviction, what a juror has now revealed. and why the defense team wants a new trial tonight. and the tennis star ordered to leave the country over his vaccine status. 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