:00:00. > :00:00.facilitating terrorism in Syria. That's it for now. Time now for a
:00:00. > :00:09.look at the news as seen across the United States a couple of hours ago
:00:10. > :00:10.in ABC World News with Dianne Sawyer.
:00:11. > :00:18.Tonight, the polar blast pressing south. Rivers jammed with broken
:00:19. > :00:24.icebergs. Out west, the race to get sandbags ahead of floods.
:00:25. > :00:28.Coming home, our investigation of American veterans from Iraq and
:00:29. > :00:34.Afghanistan are hooked on addictive painkillers. It's a living seemingly
:00:35. > :00:42.never ending nightmare. Tonight, why is this happening? Will be used to
:00:43. > :00:46.date change it? And a new and simple solution for a nation of insomniacs.
:00:47. > :00:55.This woman. Is she about to change your life?
:00:56. > :01:09.Good evening. We begin with the sights, sounds and struggles of a
:01:10. > :01:14.nation watching as the freezer game. Even Texas will feel it. Out
:01:15. > :01:17.west, the race is under way to get sandbags in place before heavy rain
:01:18. > :01:22.threatens to bring mudslides on thousands of homes. A meteorologist
:01:23. > :01:30.is tracking the split personality weather tonight.
:01:31. > :01:33.Parts of Southern California playing out almost 150,000 sandbags,
:01:34. > :01:38.preparing for what could bring more brain in four days and they have had
:01:39. > :01:45.in the past year. Mudslides are more of the potential, especially in
:01:46. > :01:50.areas where there have been fires. Especially here, the home of the
:01:51. > :01:56.wildfire that removed almost 2000 acres of education in January. We
:01:57. > :02:04.need the brain. But not that much! `` rain. They needed to help dent
:02:05. > :02:08.the drought. But even if they get five inches of rain, they would need
:02:09. > :02:13.another 15 inches within one month to really see a rebound. The brain
:02:14. > :02:19.will start Wednesday and the heaviest will come into Saturday. ``
:02:20. > :02:26.rain. Meanwhile, the headline for many east of the Rockies is cold.
:02:27. > :02:31.The savage winter still howling in southern Minnesota. The deadline to
:02:32. > :02:35.get your ice fishing house off the Lakes is less than one week away.
:02:36. > :02:40.What with all the cold lately, they may not be able to remove them in
:02:41. > :02:46.time. That push brings the sub freezing wind chills as far south as
:02:47. > :02:50.north Texas and northern Alabama. It is forcing ice jams from Illinois to
:02:51. > :02:58.India Anna and Pennsylvania, bulldozing the swollen rivers. ``
:02:59. > :03:04.Indiana. It is destroying whatever it crosses. There are a windchill
:03:05. > :03:10.advisories from Montana to Ohio. Let's bring back the map. This is
:03:11. > :03:13.the windchill in Chicago, one of many cities concerned about the
:03:14. > :03:20.dangerous weather. Tomorrow morning, it will feel like `20 in Chicago.
:03:21. > :03:22.Other cities, anyone surrounding the great Lakes, will be very
:03:23. > :03:30.uncomfortable. Thank you so much. Next, the big
:03:31. > :03:34.surprises today in that culture war under way in Arizona. The one that
:03:35. > :03:38.pits religious liberty against gay rights. Today, some big American
:03:39. > :03:45.companies warned the governor of the state against signing that hill. In
:03:46. > :03:54.fact, even Mitt Romney weighed in and not the way you might think.
:03:55. > :04:00.Outrage at the state capital. As the governor faces her decision. Does
:04:01. > :04:04.she signed into law a bill allowing businesses in the name of religious
:04:05. > :04:09.freedom to refuse to serve gay people or veto it? But major
:04:10. > :04:12.companies are pouncing, saying the law would create an unfriendly
:04:13. > :04:23.climate that is bad for business. Joining the chorus, Mariott hotels,
:04:24. > :04:31.Apple, which wants to open a 2000 plant offers. Mitt Romney chimed in,
:04:32. > :04:36.urging a veto. `` office. Even the NFL waiting. With the Super Bowl to
:04:37. > :04:44.be played in Arizona next year, it says it promotes exclusiveness. It
:04:45. > :04:48.is discrimination hidden behind religious beliefs. The opposition
:04:49. > :04:52.has been loud but from the backers of the will be here silent so far.
:04:53. > :04:55.We tried to find business owners who would go on the record in support of
:04:56. > :05:02.it not so far we have not found one. But willing to talk, this woman from
:05:03. > :05:07.Arizona's Christian business networking. For her, this is about
:05:08. > :05:11.religious freedom. How is this any different to refusing someone
:05:12. > :05:16.service records of the colour of their skin? This is just about
:05:17. > :05:19.people having the right to have their belief system is respected.
:05:20. > :05:27.The governor has until Saturday to act. `` six to `` systems. Return to
:05:28. > :05:35.the results of a special investigation. To address a kind of
:05:36. > :05:38.epidemic among American heroes, returning home only to battle
:05:39. > :05:43.addiction to prescription drugs and drug is provided by the very system
:05:44. > :05:44.meant to help them. It is part of a new series about America's fighting
:05:45. > :05:56.men and women. These are probably the most
:05:57. > :06:05.difficult ones. Snapshots of a father. An army veteran and a bronze
:06:06. > :06:08.star in Iraq. Here, so stoned on prescription drugs he can barely
:06:09. > :06:16.hold his daughter. The war hero turned addict. I had everything
:06:17. > :06:25.going for me. In a flash, but fast, `` that fast, you wake up and it is
:06:26. > :06:31.gone. He is now alone. It is said and number of prescriptions for
:06:32. > :06:35.highly addictive painkillers surged 270% in two years, above the
:06:36. > :06:39.increasing patients. In fact, or than 50,000 veterans were treated
:06:40. > :06:44.for painkiller addiction last year alone. My life revolved around
:06:45. > :06:51.primarily one thing, when is my next bill? The road to addiction started
:06:52. > :06:55.hours after 911. There he is, part of the rescue effort outside the
:06:56. > :07:00.Pentagon. He injured his back pulling the woman from debris. More
:07:01. > :07:03.prescription drugs when he fell off and helicopter in Iraq. He says
:07:04. > :07:07.doctors kept prescribing more painkillers. Soon a full`blown
:07:08. > :07:14.addict, he tried to stop three times. It's a living seemingly never
:07:15. > :07:22.ending nightmare. I am angry that there were better options, more
:07:23. > :07:26.effective ways to treat my pain. The priority was seemingly treating me
:07:27. > :07:31.for whatever was the fastest and most inexpensive way. Tonight, this
:07:32. > :07:38.whistleblower speaks for the first time. She was a pain specialist at a
:07:39. > :07:42.hospital in Kansas City. I saw what I saw and I had to do something
:07:43. > :07:46.about it. But other doctors around the country, she told us she saw an
:07:47. > :07:51.alarming trend, more patients addicted to painkillers. She tried
:07:52. > :07:55.to get them off them but some of them came to her taking massive
:07:56. > :08:01.doses, as much as 1000 mg of morphine per day. Ten times the
:08:02. > :08:05.level considered safe. The bedrooms have their own set of issues and
:08:06. > :08:13.then they are given narcotics. `` veterans. You have used the word
:08:14. > :08:17.generous but it sounds like you want to say excessive. Very excessive. If
:08:18. > :08:26.the patient continues to explain, give them more. If they continue to
:08:27. > :08:33.have pain, give them all. `` com plain. Today, we took these
:08:34. > :08:38.troubling numbers to the health administration who told us they are
:08:39. > :08:41.announcing a programme, and safety initiative, using many of the same
:08:42. > :08:46.recommendations pain experts have made four years. Alternatives like
:08:47. > :08:51.acupuncture and yoga, which have had great success. These are pretty new
:08:52. > :08:56.ideas. We owe it to them to find ways to treat the pain. I am here to
:08:57. > :09:03.say we are working on that. There is 12 years of evidence to say American
:09:04. > :09:07.veterans are over prescribed pain medication. Why hasn't the change
:09:08. > :09:12.occurred? We are addressing this as quickly as we can. This is an
:09:13. > :09:19.absolutely serious issue to the agency, to my fellow physicians. I
:09:20. > :09:29.do treat patients and the ultimate goal for us as physicians used to
:09:30. > :09:38.get our guys back on their feet. Those recommendations come too late
:09:39. > :09:43.for such veterans. I just hope somebody else dealing with chronic
:09:44. > :09:47.pain hears all see this. If they do make the same mistakes I do, they
:09:48. > :09:51.can still raise their daughter, read her story at night. All sides agree
:09:52. > :09:57.they have paid a high price. Their pain is real. The DA insist they
:09:58. > :10:04.have found a new pain management plan they say works. The numbers
:10:05. > :10:10.asked the ringed by what is the evidence it works? According to
:10:11. > :10:15.tests, the VA says the use of addictive painkiller is dropped. We
:10:16. > :10:24.will have to see if those numbers hold. Now we turn to political
:10:25. > :10:30.news. Former President, Bill Clinton blazing his way back onto the
:10:31. > :10:42.campaign trail. Why are? And what does it say about Hillary Clinton in
:10:43. > :10:50.the White House in 2016? Bill Clinton is back. I love
:10:51. > :11:03.Kentucky! The effort to knock off the top Republican in the Senate.
:11:04. > :11:09.Bill Clinton says it is an art form. You do everything you can to make
:11:10. > :11:18.sure the problem is fixed. In Kentucky today, he was helping his
:11:19. > :11:23.opponent. She was a teenager when he was president. He/she is aged 14,
:11:24. > :11:28.resenting roses to the Clintons at the inauguration. Surrounded by
:11:29. > :11:35.senators in Washington, he brushed off the visit. This year, Bill
:11:36. > :11:41.Clinton is his party 's biggest draw. I hope that Hillary Clinton
:11:42. > :11:48.runs for the White House. One person not mention today, resident Obama.
:11:49. > :11:55.You did not mention Obama once. Why is Clinton a bigger draw? Bill
:11:56. > :12:00.Clinton is a friend, a mental and an adviser. We caught up with Bill
:12:01. > :12:06.Clinton and asked if Democrats could maintain the Senate control. Bill
:12:07. > :12:13.Clinton in high demand, hoping to come to the rescue.
:12:14. > :12:21.Late today, we got some news that gave hope in the fight against
:12:22. > :12:27.obesity. News that obesity in that group has plummeted 43% in ten
:12:28. > :12:32.years. So what has made the difference and how much credit goes
:12:33. > :12:40.to Michelle Obama and her campaign that again four years ago today?
:12:41. > :12:47.Four years after Michelle Obama launched her campaign to get kids to
:12:48. > :12:52.eat right and exercise. Tonight, that stunning headline. New
:12:53. > :12:58.government numbers showing that in 2004, 14% of two to five year olds
:12:59. > :13:04.were obese. But by 2012, that number dropped to just 8%. The CDC is
:13:05. > :13:16.calling it the first significant decrease in the could be Derek ``
:13:17. > :13:21.epidemic. Experts point to a number of factors that may have contributed
:13:22. > :13:26.to the decline. Kids are consuming fewer sugary drinks. While mothers
:13:27. > :13:30.are breast`feeding and they also credit the first lady with raising
:13:31. > :13:38.awareness. Lessons that may be starting to stick.
:13:39. > :13:43.Also tonight, we are tackling sleeplessness in America. A simple
:13:44. > :13:47.solution for insomnia and how one woman is getting millions of people
:13:48. > :14:35.to fall asleep without pills or gadgets. And it is free.
:14:36. > :14:40.Our series this week, sleepless in America. Tonight 23 million of us
:14:41. > :14:46.wonder if we will stay a week all night with a Sumner `` insomnia.
:14:47. > :15:03.What if there was a simple way to fall asleep for free?
:15:04. > :15:07.Today I have a new video for you. This woman would be offended if her
:15:08. > :15:12.voice puts you to sleep. It is the response that she wants. She is the
:15:13. > :15:24.sleep with bra, one of eight exploding community on the
:15:25. > :15:32.Internet. They, brush, poor and mostly whisper all to lull people to
:15:33. > :15:37.sleep. Is it just a soothing voice? It has to do with the combination of
:15:38. > :15:45.sounds and voices. It actually works. Per videos have generated 16
:15:46. > :15:52.million clicks and are among the options. One of her followers says
:15:53. > :15:59.her videos have changed her life. I could not sleep and I was thinking
:16:00. > :16:08.about so many different things. When she saw the first video, she found
:16:09. > :16:20.it hard to keep her eyes open. I was hooked. My rain relaxes so much. And
:16:21. > :16:30.that is with no appeals, signed a fax `` side`effects. The videos
:16:31. > :16:36.could be a good solution to insomnia. It brings me comfort that
:16:37. > :16:41.I cannot find in other things. Millions of people are now relying
:16:42. > :16:47.on the Internet equivalent of counting sheep.
:16:48. > :16:57.Would you dance till you drop for 46 hours? 700 students defy exhaustion
:16:58. > :17:07.and sore feet to use their energy to light a fire for other kids.
:17:08. > :17:15.Don't let that silly hat for you. Alison and Ryan are preparing for a
:17:16. > :17:29.marathon. Just trying to stretch out. 46 hours of no sleep and no
:17:30. > :17:34.sitting. Just dancing. This is America's biggest college dance and
:17:35. > :17:39.Marys on. More than 700 dances shaking and strutting their stuff.
:17:40. > :17:46.All to help kids like this 13`year`old. She has cancer and
:17:47. > :17:53.money raised will help pay for medical costs. After 24 hours,
:17:54. > :18:00.almost 36 hours in Alison 's legs are swollen and she is losing her
:18:01. > :18:12.voice. Is about fighting cancer! Nearly two days after the dance
:18:13. > :18:22.began, they are barely hanging on. And then, it is over. Mission
:18:23. > :18:33.accomplished. $13 million raised. And perhaps, more importantly.
:18:34. > :18:38.Britney is beaming. Don't ever underestimate the effect you can
:18:39. > :18:47.have on a child life. Dancing with your feet and your heart. That is
:18:48. > :18:52.America Strong. And we celebrate them all and thank
:18:53. > :19:01.you for watching. See you again tomorrow night.
:19:02. > :19:10.A cold at night and pad to last night and that leads us into a
:19:11. > :19:15.chilly start for Wednesday morning. While some start dry and bright, for
:19:16. > :19:21.others showers will develop quite quickly. The showers are developing
:19:22. > :19:24.late into the night and the morning for part of northern Ireland, some
:19:25. > :19:25.on the heavy