This renoir. The museum says it was swiped off its walls. Why their battle is now heading to court. Youre looking at live pictures of times square. Snowcovered new york city. What a difference. Forget the confetti. Its now the show. We say. And tgif because we need it. No ones in times square. Its the emptiest ive ever seen it. And many of you watching with your kids at home this morning. Schools canceled across the country. Much of the northeast, slowgoing this morning. New england, boston, hit hard overnight. The snows still coming down there. And its not just the snow. Some serious winds overnight. Gusting as high as 55 Miles Per Hour in some parts of massachusetts, creating whiteout conditions. And for millions across the country, were also dealing with the bitter cold that david was just talking about. Our extreme weather team is covering all of the angles this morning. Ginger zee is in central park and starts us off. Ginger, good morning. We have seen some improvement. Good morning to everyone. Here in central park weve got about 6 inches of fresh, fluffy snow. The winds were blowing, making it feel sub zero. This is nothing compared to what the nation is feeling. Look at some of the number, boston well over a fast snow. North and west of boston, they had two feet or so and chicago well over a foot. A lot of suburbs, even ohare and midway really close. Of course the numbers even in delaware, very high. The storm, next question, when is it pulling away . Its pulling away very quickly. We have to check in what the windiest conditions were, cohasset massachusetts. We find Ron Claiborne. Reporter im in the epicenter of this noreaster. The hardest hit area of wind and snow. Were looking at a foot, 15 inches maybe more of snow. Wind gusts reported at 55 miles an hour. This is an inlet eight, ten hours ago. Its now frozen over. Looks like some scenes out of antarctica this week. The snow is abating. So is the wind. Its been a rough, rough ride overnight. Noreaster nightmare. Overnight, the mammoth winter storm exploding all of the way from pennsylvania to maine. Freezing, blizzardlike conditions. Winds howling up to 35 Miles Per Hour. Snow falling in some areas at a rate of one inch every hour, causing a sloshy mess for drivers. Im going sideways, even if fourwheel drive. You have to take it easy. Reporter boston hit hard overnight with about a foot of heavy snow. Schools and even the state government, shut down. So much snow there, streets transformed into ski slopes. And a frigid farewell to bostons longtime mayor, tom menino, stepping down from office after 20 years. I guess Mother Nature wanted to give me one more gift. Reporter new york city slammed overnight with about six inches of snow and still falling. Governor cuomo, issuing a state of emergency, urging people to stay off the streets. In coastal massachusetts, flood warnings, as freezing waves crash into homes. Youll see water probably coming up over the top of here into the parking lot. Reporter and as far south as north carolina, it wasnt heavy snow but icy roads that sent this car sliding on to its side. The chilling storm already ripping through states like indiana and michigan, creating chaos on roadways. Even snowplows couldnt escape freezing. Conditions still pretty bad here. Very cold. But its going to get a lot colder as the temperature is expected to plunge later today, going on to the minus Single Digits and windchills, even colder. Ginger, back to you. Reporter ron, thank you. So much improvement on the way. It is not going to be clean on the rails or on the roads. For traffic update we go to lisa in wabc in new york. They had rough wins 30 to 35 Miles Per Hour. Lisa . Reporter still experiences blizzardlike conditions in long island. Of the wind is blowing and 8 inches here. Governor cuomo took a preemptive strike shutting down major highways at midnight. The long island expressway shut down. They wanted plows to plow the roads with no obstructions. No other people on the roads. Theyre using mass transit. Operating on a weekend schedule, limited service. They are asking if people can stay home to do so. A amy, back to you. All right. Lisa, with a look at the travel. Talk about travel. Air travel, almost 3,000 Flights Canceled or delayed. Linzie januais is at laguardia. Good morning. You can see one of the very long checkin lines. People spending the night in airports. Overnight in chicago, passengers stuck on the runway for three to four hours after too many flights landed at midway at the same time. Yesterday, there were over 10,000 delays and 3,000 cancellations. This morning more than 3,000 flights delayed already and more than 1800 canceled. New york area airports are faring the worst so far followed by philly, chicago and boston. Its freezing temperatures and more snow on the way it could take days to untangle this mess. You definitely want to check with your airline before you head to the airport to travel. David . You should havezine the jaws dropping in the studio. 10,000 delays in the last 24 hours. Thats unbelievable. Going to be a tough day ahead. Chicago one of the all rightesthit cities. Now that the snow has finally ended there, its the frigid cold were talking about. Gio benitez has been in chicago. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you, david. I heard you ask that question, how long does it take for frostbite to set in. Im asking myself that right now. Here we are in temperatures that are below zero. Talking about 2 below zero all morning long. Windchills at 12 below zero. Take a look at snow. Talking about the same kind of snow were seeing in new york. Its light and fluffy. Thats the bad news. Well have Winter Weather warnings when this snow blows all over the place when the winds pick up. Then we have temperatures over the weekend and into next week. Monday and tuesday were seeing temperatures way below zero during the day. Thats the first time in 30 years thats happened in this area. So, clearly, cancellations, schools may be canceled. Classes may be canceled here in this area. And we may have other activities canceled throughout the week. Amy. All right, gio benitez, thanks so much. And speaking of the bitter cold, temperatures bulging. Lets go back to ginger in central park for the details how cold this is going to get, ginger. Reporter not just recordbreaking but potentially recordshattering. Thats the cold air for next week. Its plenty cold this morning. New england has been there and will be there for days. Lets look at the numbers as far south as tampa. Yes, we are talking windchill advisories in florida this morning. Parts of georgia and parts of Winter Weather advisories, too. The numbers of are Single Digits and teens and even parts of tennessee this morning. They we have a look what happens in the next cold blast. The numbers not just plummet but this is the wicked wild, brainfreezing. We use the word dangerous. Its when the pets absolutely need to come inside. When we go to 25, 35 below zero. You have to be outside for a short amount of time for frostbite and hypethermia to set him. Well talk about another storm but for now dave and amy. Talking about the temperature, extreme pem temperatures, frostbite. You have to be concerned about this. I want to bring in our medical editor, dr. Richard besser. You talk about frostbite. What you see is whitish or gray color to the skin. A firm or waxy feel. A numbness. You dont know you have it, you too have look at the people around you. Hypothermia is very serious. How do you know youre going to that situation . Normally its 80 degrees. If it drops to 85 degrees thats hypothermia. Babies may have bright red skin. How long does this take before any of it sets in. You saw the temperatures ginger said are coming. Were dealing with this for days to come. What concerns me is not just the temperature but the wind. Its a matter of minutes, you can have frostbite set in, you can have hypothermia. People indoors without heat can get hypothermia. With a few seconds left, a lot of kids playing in the snow. What do you do. Its not hot watt never. You want luke warm water to warm them gradually. That will prevent damage and burns. Hippothermia. Get help . To a doctor right away. Lets get the other top stories from bianna golodryga. Good morning, everybody. Good morning to everyone at home. We begin with more money. The dow plunge d 135 points. Yesterday, the first time stocks have fallen to start the year in 6 years. Analysts said it was a return to reality after the market got a little overheated last month. This morning, stock futures are up slightly. We have some breaking news to report. The u. S. Is telling americans in south sudan to get out or youre on your own. The state department has all but shut its embassy and pulled its staff from that wartorn country overnight. It organized one last evacuation flight for u. S. Citizens. And next to a massive manhunt for an escaped mental patient connected to a brutal double murder. This morning theres questions about how he got away. Abcs Muhammad Lila has the story. Reporter police in South Carolina say 39yearold Jason Mark Carter should be considered dangerous. We just want mr. Carter to be returned to the facility in columbia. Obviously, we dont want to see anybody hurt. Reporter carter has been committed for almost eight years since the death of his mother and stepfather in 2006. I remember the case did receive, you know, a good deal of publicity. Investigators searched. They made their way to the basement. When they made entry, mr. Carter was inside the locked room. And his deceased mother and stepfather were in the same room with him. Reporter he was found incompetent to stand trial. Police say he has family in north carolina. And he may be headed towards that area. For good morning america, Muhammad Lila, abc news, new york. Our thanks to muhammad. Meantime, with more than 2 million americans joined the ranks of the insured, it appears obamacare could make things worse for emergency rooms. An oregon study shows the newly insured are 40 more likely to head straight to the e. R. The findings contradict the key argument that obamacare would help rein in e. R. Visits and costs. And californians from sacramento to hollywood are puzzling over an unidentified object they saw new years eve. They say the glowing object hovered for some time. And then, zoomed away. The air force, of course, says it didnt pick up anything on the radar. They always seem to say that, right . And to a shocking sight in new orleans, where number 11 oklahoma took down thirdranked alabama in the sugar bowl, 4531 last night. The crimson tide were heavily favored. But oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight passed for 348 yards and 4 touchdowns, completing 32 passes setting a sugar bowl record. Good for him. And finally, i thought this was fitting. Heres an Ice Sculpture to end all Ice Sculptures. Take a look. It was an actual working pickup, made out of blocks of ice. It could be driven and was, however. It may be hard to believe, given todays weather, the ice melts. This pickup is already gone. 11,000 pounds of ice. Cold feet. Yeah. Ginger zee wants one of those, right away. Well get on it. Now, to the dramatic rescue in antarctica. All 52 passengers, safely aboard a new ship this morning. But their return home is delayed because it turns out the rescuers may need rescuing themselves. And this morning, were hearing from some of the passengers as they try to head home. Abcs Alex Marquardt has the story. Reporter as the chinese helicopter crossed 16 nautical miles of ice, a red ship, their rescue, came into view. After ten days stuck in the ice, the ice breaker was a sight to behold. Their new passage home. The weary passengers were hoisted up on to the deck in a small boat and warmly shown to their rooms. I was immensely relieved for the people under my care. I was pleased with having extracted them from that situation. Reporter smiles all around, as the fivehour rescue mission, which included nine helicopter trips, was pronounced a success. I was just a feeling of having relief. And having completed the job safely. And everybodys back onboard. Reporter as the sun set, the ship got under way, plowing through ice several feet thick. As you can see, its not exactly slicing through all this ice. Thats surrounding us. This ship is dealing with it. But were certainly making slow progress. Reporter the passengers original ship remains stuck in the ice. Some of it almost ten feet thick. But the 22man crew has been resupplied and are waiting until they can break free or another ship can reach them. The ship is now on standby out in open water, in case it has to go back and rescue the chinese ship. They say theyre going to try to break free in the coming hours as tidal conditions change. Amy . David . We know youll be watching, thanks so much. Good to see the storm is hitting london, too. This next story, was it a deal or a steal . I hope lara is watching this next story. A woman says she purchased this painting at a flea market, 7. A painting that was painted by the great renoir. The museum saying it was stolen from its collection wants it back. Theres a tugofwar. Who should get it . Abcs jeff zeleny. Reporter a lucky find . Or a stolen treasure . This morning, thats the question for a federal judge, with a oneofakind renoir painting. At the center of an intense legal battle. The tiny work of art, the size of a napkin, is an 1879 landscape called on the shore of the seine. A virginia woman says it is hers. She bought it in a flea market in 2009, for just 7. The Baltimore Museum of art says that price was a real steal. Thats because they claim the painting was actually stolen in 1951. And they want it back, now that its resurfaced. The fbi seized the painting until a judge determines the rightful owner. In court papers filed this week, the museum produced a list of evidence it says proves the renoir was stolen, including a 60yearold police report. Old museum catalogs and even a receipt, showing a patron bequeathed the painting to the museum. The museum claims it was stolen and claimed it owned it. The museum has to prove it was, in fact, stolen and they did own it. Reporter neither she nor her attorneys would speak to abc news. Her brother says she took the painting years ago from her mother, an art aficionado. Even if she paid 7 or 70,000, if the painting was stolen, a thief cant pass ownership on to somebody else. Reporter now, both sides are scrambling to paint a convincing picture to the judge when they face off in court next week. For good morning america, jeff zeleny, abc news, washington. Not that anyone wants a lawsuit. But thats why lara spencer brakes for yard sales. Thats why we should, too. Take you back outside. Live picture of times square this morning. This is not impressionism, folks. This is the real thing. There are a few people outside our gma studios. Let me give them major credit this morning. They are gathered. They are waving to us through the windows. But the rest of the city deserted this morning. Thats because the snow and the bitterly cold temperatures. Theres one person out in central park, though. And she looks happy because she loves this. Ginger zee . I am. I do love it. I just hope everybody is safe this morning because ive got to tell you, even though we have about two to five hours of the snowstorm left, thats from here up through the northeast, new england, too, this is whats going to happen. You have blowing snow. You have drifts that are created by plows. Thats going to be an issue because not only does it stay because of the cold. But some areas, getting more snow that already had so much. Lets look at the next snowstorm. Weve got to move on to the forecast, of course. St. Louis, you thought you got away with it, huhuh. You get a shot of snow this weekend. These are numbers through sunday. Chicago gets more. Detroit gets more. Indianapolis, right in that pink zone. And then there were travel issues in san diego that had fog rerouted flights because of it. Conditions are improving. You will see a nice day shaping up from there to l. A. , to much of the southwest. And dont go anywhere. The extreme team does not quit. After the first half hour, we have so much more on this monster storm. Amy and david . All right. Ginger never quits. Are you kidding . Coming up here on good morning america, the former firefighter now behind bars after being accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill his wife. And the surprising words from the daughter now. Also, new details in the new years day murder of a popular california priest. A suspect behind bars this morning. Plus, a man who allegedly pretended to be a navy s. E. A. L. , duping people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Like this. L lets touch this. Touch that, save a ton, and then, lets get on it. Lets see the big game. And lets do floor seats. Lets do this. More saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. Right now get wholehome basic carpet installation for 37 bucks. Almond breeze almondmilk makes everything good even better. From the bowls of cereal you make. To all the delicious recipes you bake. Because inside every carton is the goodness of blue diamond almonds. So grab a carton of almond breeze. Almondiciously good turn to roc® retinol correxion®. One week, fine lines appear to fade. One month, deep wrinkles look smoother. After one year, skin looks ageless. High performance skincare™ only from roc®. 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