Nascar driver kurt busch sidelined just days before the daytona 500. A judge finding he committed an act of domestic violence. Any actions of abuse will not be tolerated in the industry. What will the racing champ do next . And countdown to the oscars. Theyre rolling out the red carpet this morning for the biggest night in hollywood. The newest reveals on who is performing and presenting. Bum, bum, bum. And how host Neil Patrick Harris is handling those preshow jitters as excitement builds by the minute. You can still be per cussive. Without sara . Good morning. Its oscars. Sara is live from l. A. Shell have exclusive behind the scenes material. We told her no talking, just waving. No, looking good, sara. Lets get to the top story. Another weekend, yet another big storm. This one from missouri all the way to maine. Tens of millions of americans caught in the cross hairs. The most urgent issue right now is the ice in the south. Look at these drives stranded on a highway all night long. Miserable. Were going to talk to one of those drivers in just a moment. But first, lets get it out to rob who is leading our coverage from central park right now. Good morning, rob. Good morning, paula. Its 17 degrees, relatively balmy compared to yesterday. Cold enough for this area to remain frozen. The moisture makes its way across the eastern half of the country. Many people at or below freezing. Lets look at the warnings and advisories. From nevada all the way to new england, a swath of real estate. Lets focus on the central u. S. The storm causing a mess down across the mid south. The pink line is the freezing line. Thats the issue in terms of what kind of precip you get. And by 5 00 p. M. Today, it noses northeast. Is eye mix icy mix in d. C. Mostly snow from new york to boston, at least to start. Then it changes over to ice and maybe brief rain tomorrow. Snow amounts will be held down. 1 to 3 in new york city. Over 8 inches in the mountains of West Virginia and kentucky. The ice is going to be the bigger issue. We have seen icing across northern alabama this morning, through tennessee, illinois, missouri. Kentucky through d. C. Could see a tenth to a quarter of an inch of ice in that area. So another round of wintry weather. Lets go to nashville. They have already seen an ice storm this week. Linzie janis is standing by. I assume theyre waiting for it to get above freezing. Hopefully in a hurry there. Reporter rob, its above freezing for the first time this week. That warmer air. And the rain creating this slop on roadways and side walks where there was ice. For thousands of drivers across the south right now, their nightmare continues. Because theyre still stuck on the roads. This morning, the south covered in a dangerous sheet of ice. From missouri to tennessee. Motorists stranded on i65 in alabama. Accident after accident on these icy roadways forcing drivers to abandon their vehicles. Hotels overflowing with guests. So many people flooding in, there were no vacancies. Some forced to sleep in lobbies. Abc affiliate way31 demonstrating the icy conditions in their parking lot. This is a look at our parking lot. Similar to what Road Conditions are. It looks wet, but its actually completely iced over. Reporter these cars slipping and sliding down the hill. Watch out. Reporter creating a driverless pileup. Overnight, these basketball players from georgia forced to make a threemile trek to shelter on foot. Until local cops came to their rescue. In tennessee, where so far, at least 18 lives have been claimed by the freezing temperatures, inches of sleet, freezing rain, and ice turning roadways into skating rinks. Roads littered with the wreckage of accidents and neardeath experiences like this one. Captured on Police Dash Cam video. A highway worker escaping an outofcontrol truck with inches to spare. I just saw the front of the truck. A second or a half second to react is what i had. Reporter plows in kentucky trying to keep up with the frozen mess. Nearly burying this motorist under a wave of ice and snow. Salt trucks and school buses in arkansas pulled upright after treacherous conditions. In mississippi, drivers thankful to have escaped with their lives. I was on my way to work. Next thing i know, my truck was whirling in the middle of the highway. Reporter this morning, officials estimate thousands of drivers are trapped on roadways too dangerous to drive, and hours away from thawing out. The good news for nashville is the warmer temperatures are expected to stick around through the weekend. So, too, is the rain. It is only going to get heavier. The concern now for drivers is flash flooding. Dan . Linzie, thank you. For an extreme example of how treacherous it can be, out on the roads, lets go to huntsville, alabama, neil johnson, a driver stranded in his car overnight. There he is joining us via skype. Neil, how long exactly have you been stranded . At this point, ive been here about 12 hours with my car in park. 12 hours. Can you show can you use your camera and show us how thick the ice is there . Yeah, of course. Im going to pull right here in front of my car. See if you can kind of see the ground, i mean can you see it pretty well . This is, yeah, i mean, if you can see, this is a solid half inch to a threequarter inch sheet of ice. It covers the entire interstate. Its not just its not patchy or anything. Its covering the whole thing. So, how are people managing for this amount of time . Is anybody running out of gas . To be honest i think a lot of people are turning their cars off. And kind of bundling up with what theyve got. And taking a nap. Thats what i just did. I know the people in front of me and this car right here are doing the exact same thing. Um and then, i guess, once the temperature gets too cold, theyre turning their car back on. So the gas will crank. I think theyre doing it to conserve gas just a little bit. I have seen a bunch of Truck Drivers walking around. A couple brought me some food and water earlier. Which was really nice of them. People are walking up and down checking on other people, making sure everybody is okay. The entire county of limestone county, alabama, has completely shut down. Every single road in the entire county, including this highway. Thats why were sitting here. Theyre saying it wont open up until 9 00. I want to let you go. But let me just say, youre remarkably chipper for man who has spent 12 hours stranded in the middle of nowhere. We appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you so much. No worries, dan. Thank you so much. I would be in the fetal position in a after an hour. An Endless Spiral of selfpity. Hes out there talking to us. Which is nice. Its just an extreme example. I know my dad always said, make sure at all times, have extra water, blankets in the car its for those extreme situations. And a little bit of patience. More than a little. And turning now to one of auto racings best drivers indefinitely suspended by nascar before tomorrows daytona 500. Kurt busch has been sidelined for allegedly choking and abusing his former girlfriend just last year. The star driver is denying in assault. And abcs Mara Schiavocampo is here with more. Good morning, mara. Reporter good morning, paula. The daytona 500 Season Opener is often called nascars super bowl. One of racings biggest stars will not be there. Kurt busch will be sitting this one out after very serious allegations of domestic violence. Nascar has indefinitely suspended drive kurt busch. Reporter this morning, nascar giving kurt busch the red light. The racing champion sidelined indefinitely by racings beggest professional league after a Delaware Court found busch committed an act of domestic violence. The ruling coming just as festivities kick off ahead of sundays daytona 500. Any actions of abuse will not be tolerated in the industry. The outlaw wins the battle. Reporter known on the track as the outlaw, busch is the first driver to be suspended by nascar for domestic violence. Nascar says its a move based on the serious nature of the allegations from buschs former girlfriend, patricia driscoll. Claims including manually strangling her by placing his left hand on her throat while placing his right hand on her chin and face and smashing her head into the wall of his motor home. He didnt even look like himself. Reporter in an interview with gmas michael strahan, driscoll opens up about the alleged assault in september. Shock. You just cant believe that someone that you love who you have spent four years with, could hurt you like this. Reporter busch has denied the assault allegations. His attorney vowing to appeal nascars decision, saying in a statementover overnight, this action against mr. Busch will turn out to be a travesty of justice. He can appeal this decision. Hes not done so yet. Reporter driscoll releasing a statement overnight saying, today, nascar took an important step and deserves to be commended. Now, busch stood to pocket 1 million if he won. Hes lost one of his biggest sponsors. Chevrolet announcing its now cut ties. Serious allegations and serious punishment. Serious and disturbing. And he is filing already has filed that appeal. Mara, thank you. Yet altogether league dealing with these issues. Jurors in the american sniper trial will soon have a weighty issue to consider. Was eddie routh insane when he killed chris kyle and his friend at a shooting range in texas . Deliberations could begin shortly after the work week resumes. Ryan owens has the latest. Reporter testimony in the state of texas versus eddie routh drawing to a close with a battle of the doctors. Friday prosecutors calling two experts who say routh was not legally insane when he killed the american sniper chris kyle and his friend, chad littlefield. He did know what he was doing was wrong and he did it any way, testified dr. Randall price. A forensic psychologist. He says the fact that the marine veteran led police on the highspeed chase was clear evidence he knew he committed a crime. When routh was in the back of this Police Cruiser saying he might be insane, he was setting a stage for a defense of, its not my fault, price tells the jury. He says routh was a heavy drinker and marijuana smoker who was drunk and high when he shot the two men. At this texas gun range. Thursday, the defense closed its case with a different doctor, a psychiatrist who said routh has skits french dwra and thought kyle and littlefield were pig assassins sent to execute him as part of pigs taking over the earth. I just want to get the bad guys. Reporter american sniper is up for six oscars sunday night. The reallife drama could be in the hands of the jury by monday. For good morning america, ryan owens, abc news, stephenville, texas. So many paying close attention to the trial because of the movie. Now to ron with the other stories weve been tracking overnight. Good morning ron. Good morning, paula. Good morning, dan. Good morning, everyone. We begin overseas in dubai. A massive fire erupting in one of the worlds tallest residential buildings. Alex marquardt has the latest. Reporter look at this terrifying video overnight. One of the worlds tallest apartment buildings is consumed by flames. Fire engulfing floor after floor of dubais torch tower. Fueled by high winds. By the time i got downstairs and looked up at the building, you could see from about the 50th floor upwards, there were flames just coming up on to the balconies. Reporter Kathryn Dickie has lived on the 13th floor of this 79 Story Building for the last year and a half. We realized we were not safe. The wind was picking up the pieces. Reporter the blaze began at 2 00 a. M. Local time. Residents believe it started around the 51st floor. Four nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution. The tower is over 1,000 feet high. Home to many foreigners two work in dubai. Thousands of people watched as crews scrambled to douse the flames and rescue those still trying to get out. This morning, its unclear what caused the fire. Thankfully, it appears no one was hurt. Alex marquardt, abc news, beirut. Alex thanks. Now staying overseas the race to find three missing british schoolgirls, possibly trying to join isis. The girls, aged 15 and 16, were last seen tuesday leaving london with duffel bags in hand, boarding a flight to turkey. All were straighta students at an elite coed academy. Scotland yard Officials Say theyre concerned those girls may be trying to cross into syria to join the islamist terrorist group. Back here at home, a west coast port shutdown has been averted. Negotiators have reached a settlement of a contract dispute. For sea ports from Southern California all the way to seattle, washington. The ports handle about 1 trillion worth of cargo every year. U. S. Defense secretary ash carter is on his first overseas trip to afghanistan. Carter will meet with American Military officials and afghan leaders to assess whether u. S. Troop withdrawal plans are a risk to afghan security. The u. S. Military mission is expected to be over entirely at the end of 2016. The white house is firing back at former new york city major Rudy Giuliani under fire now for saying the president doesnt love america and his, the president s views were chaped by a communist he met when he was a 9yearold boy. Abcs chief white house correspondent, jon karl got this comment from the president s press secretary. Do you think Rudy Giuliani has lost it . To see that person so thoroughly tarnish their legacy is sad. I think what people are feeling is sorry for Rudy Giuliani. The former mayor says hes standing by his remarks. And our station in chicago, wls, is giving us a sneak peek into the nations largest and longest running car show. Taking the windy city by storm this weekend. One of the stars of the 107th show, the ford gt. On sale next year for as much as a quarter of a million bucks. Which would be 250,000. 250,000. What do you get when you add sheer determination and Cutting Edge Robotic Technology . A reallife robo cop. Officer Jeremy Romero was told he would never walk again after he was involved in a police chase in new mexico in which his cruiser crashed at nearly 100 miles an hour. He suffered a spinal cord injury. After months of hard work, he was fitted with this device, its called an exoskeleton. He hopes to some day run soon and get back to work as a police officer. Isnt that something . Amazing. Remarkable. I think theyre using those with returning veteran from the wars overseas. Oh, yeah . Incredible technology. Thank you, ron. Hollywoods biggest night is almost here. The lastminute prepping, primping, and rehearsing now very much in full swing. A whole lot of primping. Lets get to sara, who is in tinsel town for us with the inside, behind the scenes secrets of what promises to be a spectacular show. You look remarkable this morning. Shes extra primped. I had to live up to my surroundings. Im in l. A. , folks, come on. And the preparations you mentioned, and the tweaks are practically around the clock at this point as we head into the last stretch. I got to sit down with the man behind the magic to get a sneak peek at what we can expect. Here we go. Reporter were just one day away from the most anticipated night in tinsel town. The 87th annual Academy Awards. And show teams are still working out some lastminute tweaks. Its down to the wire at dolby theater in hollywood. And neil meron, coexecutive producer of the oscars took us backstage during some lastminute preparations. How are you feeling . I dont like to show any anxiety. Besides the pressure of hitting a good number. Reporter even the man of the hour, Neil Patrick Harris, showed a little stage fright from the very beginning. When we went to him with the offer, he said yes, he got nervous. He said yes, he got nervous and here he is. Reporter hell be front and center indeed. He admits hes still on the edge about the show. I think nerves are actively important. The key is to channel the nerves. And honor them and be able to use them to your advantage. Reporter and meron promises big names to go along with the big production. Even going on twitter to reveal those names. Who are some of the performers were going to see, if you can tell us . Jennifer hudson. Lady gaga. Tim mcgraw. Teaguen and sara and the lonely island. Doing everything is awesome. And it really is spectacular. Reporter even one time sexiest man alive adam levine will perform. Lost stars, nominee for best original song. We are lost stars reporter outside, a media storm is brewing. 292 outlets. More than 1600 credentialed journalists. Representing 39 countries. But it wouldnt be an awards show without the red carpet. Over 16,000 square feet, a perfect stage for striking poses and showing off those gorgeous gowns. Give me a couple words. What makes a successful live broadcast . It has to be entertaining. That is the number one thing. Boom. Reporter neil meron also assured us they would be using Neil Patrick Harris to his fullest capacity. With his skills being endless, i cant wait to see what is in store for us. He can sing, dance, do magic. Im sure hell be doing all of those things. He does do magic. I know there will be magic. Anytime youre involved, sara, its magical. I miss you, by the way. I was going to say that, sara. Its my line. Its in the prompter. I miss you. Ill see you later. Im headed to l. A. Hurry out here paula. Pack ron in your carryon. Thank you. Thank you, sara. Dont miss lara spencers saturday night special. Abc news countdown to the oscars. An insiders guide. It starts at 8 00 eastern, 7 00 central on abc. It all leads up to the big oscar night. Sunday, thats tomorrow night, starting at 7 00 right here on abc. Lets get over to our own matinee idol, rob marciano. Were pronouncing his name with a boston accent because hes been in boston nonstop for weeks now covering the weather. I have for sure. This is the french broad river. Look at the ice jams. That will be an issue. You dont hear that much in north carolina. Everybody just seeing this record cold air. And another shot is coming down the pipe. Lets talk about it. Heres the cold front. The next one coming down monday morning, behind this snow and ice system we have to get through. Minus 7 tomorrow morning in chicago. That drives down to the south and the east. 5 in new york. Well warm up above freezing tomorrow. A couple of systems. This one dives into the west parts of texas. Sleet and freezing rain. Especially west of dallas. An icy situation. Beneficial snows acros