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Cross country storms to hit South and East with more ice, snow

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ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Multiple storms will move across the U.S. this weekend into next week bringing snow and ice from coast to coast.

Thursday’s storm hit the South with freezing rain and sleet and turned roads dangerous from Texas to Virginia.

In Fort Worth, Texas, at least six people died and 65 others were injured in a massive freeway pileup that involved over 100 vehicles. Fort Worth police said the icy roads likely contributed to the crash.

Some areas in central and western Texas got up to 1 inch of ice accretion. There were also widespread reports of half an inch of ice accumulation in Arizona, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Now, that storm is moving through North Carolina and Virginia with snow and ice. Raleigh is under a winter weather advisory for freezing rain and sleet.

On Friday morning, 36 states, from Oregon to Maryland, are under some sort of snow, ice or cold alert.

Meanwhile, a second storm is already wreaking havoc in Oregon, Washington and Northern California, where snow, ice and gusty winds are causing treacherous road conditions.

A winter storm warning is set for Portland, Oregon, and a winter storm watch is set for Seattle, which is expected to see heavy snow and gusty winds. There is even a blizzard warning for the Columbia River Gorge.

Part of that western storm is moving quickly east, and will bring an icy mix to the Mid-Atlantic by Saturday evening into Sunday, where a winter storm watch has been posted for Washington, D.C.

By Sunday night into Monday, a third storm will move out of the West and slide south into Texas and Oklahoma.

A winter storm watch has been issued for Dallas, Oklahoma City and nearly all the way down to the Mexican border. Heavy snow and gusty winds are expected there.

This third storm is then expected to move to the East Coast. It will bring an icy mix to the I-95 corridor and heavy snow inland.

With all these storms coming up over the next five to seven days, almost all lower 48 states will see some sort of wintry precipitation accumulation, even as far south as San Antonio, Texas, and Jackson, Mississippi.

Apart from that, dangerous cold air will pour into the South, reaching Texas by Sunday into Monday.

Wind chills could reach below-zero temperatures even as far south as Dallas and Austin, Texas.

The North will also see some cold. Winds chills could dip as low as -60 degrees and frost bite could set in on exposed skin in as little as five minutes.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Tokyo Olympics president Yoshiro Mori resigns after sexist comments

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Yoshikazu Tsuno – Pool /Getty ImagesBy ROSA SANCHEZ, ANTHONY TROTTER and MORGAN WINSOR, ABC News

(TOKYO) — Yoshiro Mori, the embattled president of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, resigned Friday following backlash over sexist comments he made suggesting women talk too much in meetings.

“As of today, I will resign from the president’s position,” Mori said during an executive board and council meeting. “My inappropriate comments have caused a lot of chaos.”

Mori, an 83-year-old former prime minister of Japan, sparked outrage last week after he made the remarks during an executive board meeting that was held online. When giving his “private opinion” about the Japanese Olympic Committee’s goal of increasing the number of female board directors from 20% to more than 40%, Mori expressed concern about how that would affect the length of meetings, according to a report by The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest daily newspapers.

“A meeting of an executive board that includes many women would take time,” Mori was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “Women are competitive. When someone raises his or her hand and speaks, they probably think they should speak too. That is why they all end up making comments.”

He also referred to the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, saying it “includes about seven women, but they all know how to behave,” the newspaper reported.

Mori apologized for his remarks at a hastily-prepared press conference the following day. But by then, calls for his resignation were already trending on social media.

After announcing his resignation on Friday, Mori repeatedly said that he had regret over the remarks, but also said he had “no intention of neglecting women.”

“The most important thing is to hold the Tokyo Olympics in July,” he added. “I cannot allow my presence to serve as interference to the various preparations.”

Mori was appointed to the position in 2014, just months after Tokyo won its bid to host the Olympics. The executive board was expected to pick his successor later on Friday.

Early reports said that Mori had picked Saburo Kawabuchi, the 84-year-old former president of the governing body of Japanese soccer and an ex-player himself. Kawabuchi indicated on Thursday that he had been contacted by Mori and would accept the position if offered, according to a report by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. But the news sparked further outrage that the process of choosing Mori’s successor was not transparent and that replacing him with another man who is even older would not help the situation.

During a press conference Friday night, Toshiro Muto, chief executive officer of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, called Mori’s remarks about women “extremely inappropriate” and divulged that Kawabuchi has decided he will turn down the job.

“We will pick a successor immediately,” Muto told reporters. “We need to ensure that the process to appoint a successor will be transparent, as established by the executive board.”

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, has also emphasized the need for transparency.

“Matters concerning personnel and operations must be transparent,” Kato told reporters at a press conference Friday morning.

The controversy came just as Olympics organizers unveiled a series of “playbooks” for how they plan to hold a safe and successful Games in Tokyo this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2020 Summer Olympics were supposed to kick off in the Japanese capital last year on July 24. But in late March, amid mounting calls to delay or cancel the upcoming Games, the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers announced that the event would be held a year later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been outwardly staunch in their determination to go forward with the Games ever since, despite the fact that Japan — and much of the world — has seen a rise in coronavirus infections in recent weeks.

With less than six months left until opening day, Japan’s mass vaccination program has yet to begin and Tokyo remains under a state of emergency due to a climbing number of COVID-19 cases and a growing death toll. Moreover, a recent poll by Japanese news agency Kyodo found that around 80% of people in Japan believe the Tokyo Olympics should not be held this summer.

“There shall be no delay,” Muto said Friday.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Scoreboard roundup — 2/11/21

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iStockBy ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Boston 120, Toronto 106
Miami 101, Houston 94
Indiana 111, Detroit 95
Golden State 111, Orlando 105
Portland 118, Philadelphia 114

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Florida 5, Tampa Bay 2
Pittsburgh 4, NY Islanders 3
Winnipeg 5, Ottawa 1
Columbus 6, Chicago 5
Edmonton 3, Montreal 0
Nashville 3, Detroit 2
Carolina 5, Dallas 3
Anaheim 1, Vegas 0
Calgary 3, Vancouver 1
Los Angeles 6, San Jose 2
New Jersey at Philadelphia (Postponed)
Washington at Buffalo (Postponed)
St. Louis at Minnesota (Postponed)
Arizona at Colorado (Postponed)

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Southern Cal 69, Washington 54
Minnesota 71, Purdue 68
Gonzaga at Santa Clara (Postponed)
Illinois at Michigan (Postponed)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luke Bryan looks for that "special kid" as 'American Idol' pivots to kick off an unprecedented season

• No Comments • Country Music News

ABC/Brian Bowen SmithWhen the new season of American Idol premieres Sunday on ABC, it’ll be a bit different, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting last August, the show used custom-built Zoom technology to host live, virtual remote auditions from all fifty states and Washington, D.C.

Even though it’ll be a season like none before, judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry promise the Idol magic remains intact. 

“They really do a great job at really scouring the country and America and really getting that talent to us,” Luke tells ABC Audio. “I mean, obviously in the early years of Idol, they really hit a lot of different, different cities. But now we have the ability with the help of online and virtual…”

“Virtual everything,” Lionel interjects.

“Yeah, virtual everything,” Luke agrees, “I mean, these kids can submit a very, very positive audition.”

Luke goes on to say he even hopes the different way they were forced to do auditions “may motivate somebody to try out that may have not necessarily tried out on a normal year.”

After all, part of the unchanging appeal of American Idol is that you never know when an unexpected talent may appear.

“The last day,” Luke says, “the final inning, the ninth inning, there may be a special…”

“Bottom of the ninth!” Katy suggests.

“The bottom of the ninth,” Luke agrees, “there may be a special kid that comes in that really has something to offer.”  

The two-hour premiere of American Idol, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, starts Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

 

By Stephen Hubbard
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Robin Wright reflects on her directorial debut, 'Land': "It was the greatest experience"

• No Comments • Entertainment News

Courtesy of Focus Features(LOS ANGELES) — Land, Robin Wright’s directorial debut, will transport its audience into the most extreme weather conditions when it roars into theaters Friday, February 12.

Wright, who transitioned from in front of the camera in movies like The Princess Bride, took her first foray behind the camera for this daring story. 

The survival film tells the story of a woman named Edee, who so filled with grief that she feels the only way to cope is to move to the mountains and try to survive on her own.

The movie, which takes place in the Rockies but was actually shot in Alberta, Canada, presented several challenges for Wright.  As for what she said was the hardest part about making her directorial debut, the 54-year-old Emmy nominee admits to ABC Audio the weather was the worst.

“It was so cold there. We need another word for freezing. It was like, freezing was an understatement,” she dished, who admitted she and the crew spent a good amount of time “trying to keep yourself sane in the weather.”

Frigid temperatures aside, Wright found the experience incredibly rewarding and also picked up a few new talents.

“Now I know how to chop wood,” she laughed and, despite living in sprawling properties in warmer climates, believes she could do exactly what Edee accomplished. “I could live on the mountain for sure. For sure.”

If she would film Land in the bitter cold all over again, Wright says she would.

“It was the greatest experience for my first feature directorial debut. Incredible,” she smiled. “I love the beautiful message that it has, and I hope people walk away from it just feeling empowered and hopeful about our new future that’s coming.”  

Land, also starring Demian Bichir, is in theaters now.

By Megan Stone and Jason Nathanson
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.