mir is coming up next, and i will see you back tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. news coming in, the suspected over the u.s.alloon hovering - where it is now, and will there be a window to shoot it down? also tonight, the dangerous life threatening cold moving into the northeast. the live readings already. first, the pentagon tracking that chinese balloon, the intelligence bay hanging beneath it, the size of three busses. where it's spotted over the u.s., where it's believed to be headed now, 60,000 feet in the air. will the u.s. shoot this down? secretary of state antony blinken postponing his trip. the deadly cold already tonight, the national weather service is call it a once in a generation arctic blast.

25 million americans, multiple states. new york city, philadelphia, boston, wind chill readings in maine expected to reach 60 below zero. and where the wind chill is already 106 degrees below zero tonight. victor oquendo in massachusetts. rob marciano timing this out. the deadly assault on an e.r. doctor riding his mountain bike. police say the suspect in his car hitting the victim, then allegedly getting outmatt gutma

another scare at the airport. this time, newark. two passenger jets clipping wings. one plane full of passengers. the stunning and unexpected jobs report tonight. president biden celebrating the numbers. the unemployment rate not this low since 1969. so, how does this complicate steps by the fed moving forward? rebecca jarvis breaking it down. the murdaugh double murder trial. what a ballistics expert acknowledged today. and tonight, the story of alex murdaugh's housekeeper dying in a fall at the home. what the family says they never knew. prosecutors say murdaugh got a $5 million payout from a policy that covered the housekeeper's fall. will the jury hear abo robin roberts tonight and her epic jump. robin from new zealand, the birthplace of the bungee jump. tonight, the lesson on conq conquering fear. good evening. great to have you with us on a friday night. almost to the weekend, but it will be brutally cold, dangerous, life-threatening cold. the readings coming in right now, and where the wind chill is already more than 100 degrees below zero. but we begin with the chinese spy balloon hovering over the u.s. china claiming it is a weather balloon that blew off course.

u.s. believing it is being maneuvered by china. today spotted over missouri. where is it tonight? and where u.s. authorities believe it's headed. first sitings over billings, montana. a ground stop. that intelligence bay hanging beneath the balloon, that's the size of three busses. the pentagon on discussions over whether or not to shoot it down, and will there be a small opportunity to do just that? what we're learning tonight. antony blinken postponing his high-stakes trip to beijing, calling china's actions unacceptable. will this be shot down? if so, where? and what china is saying tonight. mary bruce at the white house, and mola lenghi leading us off in montana. >> reporter: tonight, the pentagon confirming the massive chinese spy balloon is on the move 60,000 feet above the ground and heading east. >> the balloon continues to move eastward and is currently over the center of the continental united states. >> what the heck is that? >> reporter: a senior u.s. official tells abc news the balloon now appears headed towards north carolina. across the country today,

americans with their eyes on the skies, posting images like this one, the balloon floating over missouri. commercial pilots radioing in. >> we got that balloon in sight also. looks like it's way up there, maybe 50,000 feet or so. >> reporter: the balloon is huge with a technology bay attached below that is itself the size of three busses, loaded with high resolution cameras, according to a senior u.s. official, equipped with what appear to be solar panels on the side that could power its technology. it first entered american airspace over alaska, then flying into southwest canada before dipping down over billings, montana. >> this thing is up in the sky. >> what the heck is that? >> that thing is not the moon. >> any help would be appreciated. >> reporter: montana republican congressman ryan zinke was blunt, tweeting "shoot. it. down." the pentagon today saying that option was considered and rejected, for now. >> we assessed that currently it does not pose a physical or military risk to people on the ground. for now we are continuing to monitor and review options. >> reporter: the white house today saying president biden

agreed with the pentagon's strong recommendation. the risks involved with shooting down the balloon just too great. >> any potential debris field would be significant and potentially cause civilian injuries or deaths or significant property damage. >> reporter: for its part, china insisting today the balloon is not a spy vessel at all, but a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes. the pentagon flatly rejecting that claim. >> we are aware of the prc's statement. however, the fact is, we know that it's a surveillance balloon. we have clearly communicated that this balloon is violating u.s. air space and international law and that this is unacceptable. >> reporter: china says the balloon deviated far from its planned course, but the pentagon questioning that as well, saying the balloon can be maneuvered. a senior u.s. official telling abc news, it's likely being navigated with spy satellites. this all happening as secretary

of state antony blinken prepared for a weekend trip to beijing. that trip now canceled. >> in light of china's unacceptable action, i am postponing my planned travel this weekend in china. we concluded that conditions were not conducive for a constructive visit at this time. >> reporter: there have been other foreign surveillance balloons above the u.s., but not like this. >> what makes this different is the duration and the length to of which it has been over u.s. territory. >> reporter: the pentagon says the balloon is expected to linger above america for a few days. >> this is really something. let's bring in mola lenghi. he's in billings, montana, tonight. that state with several sensitive nuclear sites. as you reported u.s. authorities say the balloon is likely navigated by chinese satellites. the pentagon says they've decide not to shoot it down at this point, but that option isn't completely off the table? >> that's right, david, a u.s. official familiar with the situation says the current thinking is to wait for the balloon to drift over the

atlantic ocean and then shoot it down once it's over u.s. territorile waters. that way you can avoid injuries on the ground, and two, retrieve the balloon, study it, and ultimately exploit the intelligence. tonight china says it regrets the unintended entry into the u.s. air space, but as you can imagine, not flying with u.s. security officials. >> let's bring in mary bruce. president biden chose not to talk about this today, trying not to enflame the situation. what are you learning from the white house tonight? obviously the president continuing to be briefed. and on mola's point , if you sht this down over u.s. waters, still an opportunity to pull this off. >> we know the president is being regularly briefed. his team presented him with all options, including the possible military action to take the balloon down. now, initially biden was advised whence that because of the concern over civilian risk, but tonight we have learned that option may be back on the table. one source telling us the

thinking here is to wait until the balloon goes out to sea but then shoot it down. they would have just 1 nautical miles to do this before entering international waters and certainly don't want to create an international incident over this. the white house keeping communications open to china, but even though beijing expressed regret, it was not enough to salvage secretary blinken as trip. this is only further escalating tensions between our two countries. you mentioned the, 12 nautical miles would be the opportunity. mary, thank you. the concern over this dangerous life-threatening cold. they're calling it a once in a generation arctic blast that already turned deadly tonight. wind chills below zero in philadelphia, new york, and boston. this is the view from a camera on mt. washington in new hampshire. they've already set a record, the wind chill moments ago, 106

threes below zero. if confirmed it's the colde wind chill in u.s., including alaska. snow squalls along with that arctic chill. a time lapse from vermont. a cold emergency in place in boston. this is through sunday now. rob marciano standing by to tim oquendo in boston where the wind chill is 13 below zero right now. >> reporter: tonight, millions of families are in the midst of what the national weather service is calling a "once in a generation" arctic blast. >> we're seeing wind chills right now which are already below zero and before the night's over with, these are going to drop even more. >> reporter: parts of new england expecting wind chills at or near 60 below zero. outside springfield, massachusetts, as winds gusted above 50 miles per hour, a tree crashing onto a car, killing a 6-month-old girl inside. the woman driving rushed to the hospital. in boston, pilots battling high winds as they landed at logan airport. >> we're going to load food and stuff in here. >> reporter: and outreach teams hitting the streets to care for the needy. >> if anyone is out and see someone else who might be in

distress, please call 911. >> reporter: doctors say hypothermia can set in in just minutes. >> this weather can be deadly. it's life threatening. this is something that people have to really take seriously. >> reporter: the arctic front visible in the form of powerful snow squalls pushing from upstate new york through new england. here in bostoning a brutal night ahead. a cold emergency is in place. winds will gust to 40 miles per hour, so there's a real concern about power outages, and it will feel like at least 30 below. >> victor oquendo in boston. thank you. let's get to rob marciano who's timing this out for us tonight. hey, rob. >> reporter: hi, david. if you live in the northeast you've felt it all day long. wind over 40 miles per hour already, and the wind chill advisory is pretty much everywhere north of new york city. it's no picnic south of here either. minus 23 for a wind chill right now in albany. minus 13 in boston.

numbers in the morning will be even more dangerous, and that wed spot blizzard warning, that's for blowing snow on the ground. minus 57 in caribou. minus 11 in new york. this is hype thermic stuff, frostbite in minutes. but a rapid rebound in temperatures coming during the day sunday. we'll start in single digits in many spots all the way into the 40s for sunday, monday, and tuesday. it's just a matter of survival for the next 36 hours. >> whiplash for sure, but take saturday seriously. rob, we thank you. get back inside. >> we're going to turn next to the doctor struck by a car. police say he was then attacked. he did not survive. that emergency room doctor riding his bike on the pacific coast highway, stuck by a driver. police say the driver then got out of the car and stabbed the dr. bystanders taking the man down. here's matt gutman from california tonight. >> reporter: tonight, an e.r. doctor is dead after police in california say a motorist

slammed into him, then got out of his car and stabbed him. according to the orange county sheriff's department, around 3:00 p.m. wednesday this white car broadsided dr. michael mammone at a crosswalk on the much-touristed pacific coast highway. >> at that point, the suspect drove around the victim, exited his vehicle, went back to the victim and continued to assault the victim. >> reporter: a criminal complaint alleging the car's driver, vanroy smith, then attacked mammone with a knife. bystanders stepping in to detain smith. but ma'ammone, an emergency room specialist, later dying at a hospital. tonight, providence mission hospital where mammone worked for over a decade, saying they are grieving over the loss of an incredible physician and incredible physician and friend. authorities say they know of no connection between these two men and know of no motive for this crime. smith pleaded not guilty. bail has been set at $1 million. david? >> just horrific.

matt gutman tonight, thank you. now to the scare at newark airport. two passenger jets clipping wings. gio benitez is there. >> reporter: tonight, travelers shaken after an aircraft clipped another plane's wing while it was getting ready to take off for orlando, filled with passengers. >> all of a sudden you hear and feel a jolt. >> reporter: united says the orlando plane was sit at a gate, preparing to leave newark when its left wing was struck by another united plane. that plane empty and being toed to a nearby gate. rebecca bloom was on board. >> the wing of a larger plane had clipped our wing. >> reporter: you can see the damage in these photos obtained by abc news. the port authority police, aircraft rescue firefighter unit carrying a piece of the wing. >> i think we were thinking, what was that? but we all saw it and i think our jaws dropped. >> reporter: the incident happening weeks after a near miss at jfk.

a delta jet coming within second of slamming into an american airlines plane that was crossing the wrong runway. >> reporter: david, the faa is now investigating, but no passengers were hurt. united says they all got off the plane safely. david? >> gio, thanks so much. we're going to turn now to the economy and a remarkable strong jobs report today. it was unexpected. employers adding 517,000 new jobs in january. unemployment down to 3.4%. that's the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. president biden today celebrating the news. >> here's where we stand -- the strongest job growth in history, the lowest unemployment rate in 54 years, manufacturing rebounding at a faster rate than in the last 40 years, inflation coming down -- put simply, i would argue the biden economic plan is working. >> all right, let's bring in our chief business and economics correspondent rebecca jarvis tonight. where are the jobs and how does

this complicate efforts by the fed moving forward? >> reporter: the hiring is widespread, across nearly every industry. by far the strongest is leash and hospitality, which added more than 100,000 jobs with americans continuing to spend money on travel and dining out. professional jobs, despite the fact that we've seen those layoffs at major tech companies, hold strong, as well as government and health-care jobs. and this report is really a signal that the fed's eight interest rate hikes in a row have not led to any kind of recession or major instability in the economy, and it really, david, acts as a green light to the federal reserve to continue hiking interest rates ahead in its fight against inflation. >> continues to be the good news against the bad news, the balancing act. rebecca, thank you again tonight. now to the other news be the trial against alex murdaugh, accused of murdering his own wife and son. tonight, the story of alex murdaugh's housekeeper dieing in a fall at that home. what her family says they never

knew about an insurance payout of more than $4 million. here's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: at the alex murdaugh trial today, the defense team pushing a ballistics expert to admit the state doesn't have the murder weapons. >> you cannot and you did not and you are not offering an opinion that item 22 shot gun was used to murder paul murdaugh, correct? you mean, what that ultimately means is that i'm not able to determine that. >> reporter: it comes as the judge decides whether the jury should hear evidence of murdaugh's financial crimes at work and about his greed at home. the judge hearing what the prosecutors consider a stunning betrayal. murdaugh's own longtime housekeeper gloria satterfield died after a fall at the family's home in 2018. murdaugh telling her sons to sue him for the insurance money. >> did you trust mr. murdaugh? >> yes. >> reporter: the housekeeper's son testifying murdaugh offered her children about $100,000 each. they had no idea he got

more than $4 million from his insurance company. they didn't learn of it until after the murders. >> had he ever told you there was an umbrella policy for $5 million? >> no. >> did you give him permission to steal your money? >> no. >> reporter: the ballistics expert did testify that old shell casings found on the family's property matched the markings of those found near one of the missing murder that - weapons had been fired on the property before. david? >> eva pilgrim tonight, thank you. when we come back here, news coming in from the tyre nichols investigation. what we learned about one of officers seen on that video. and news involving the dallas zoo and the owl in new york city. could be a sign that your digestive system isn't at its best. but a little metamucil everyday can help. metamucil's psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down and also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels.

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ar less. >> yes! ah! that was amazing. >> that was incredible. just goes to show that fear is in your mind, you can overcome anything. >> reporter: invented in 1988 here in new zealand. >> have you done anything like this before? >> reporter: i have not! so, when in the birthplace of bungee, you've got to take a leap. for me, that's the sky jump in auckland, at the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. >> are you ready? >> i'm ready! >> i love to hear my heartbeat heavy as we head up the lift. >> how are you with heights? >> reporter: i'm good with heights, not good at jumping off of them but good with heights. venturing 53 stories up. >> i'm going to be at the bottom to catch you. >> reporter: the safety briefing. >> i'm going to check your shoes. lift them up for me please. i'm going to double check your

harness now. >> reporter: then it's go-time. this is real. oh, my goodness. oh, my gosh. this is happening! >> robin, i'm gonna do a countdown very shortly. let go with both hands and big jump forward. okay, here she comes in three, two, one, go! >> whoo! . >> reporter: conquering this incredible leap of faith at 52 miles per hour. >> oh, my god, i'm doing it! it's happening! >> reporter: mind blown and elated with my feet firmly planted back on the ground. oh, my gosh. >> high pfive, robin. >> oh, my gosh. that was living more and fearing less. >> building a better bay area,

moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> it is terrifying to have strangers come in and start shooting. >> terrorize people. >> we are not leaving any stone unturned. >> the search for a man who fired his gun in a san francisco synagogue and the new safety concerns to protect people. good afternoon. i am kristen sze. larry: and i am larry beil. thank you for joining us. a man entered the synagogue and started firing his weapon. all was caught on camera, but it appears he shot blanks, because there was no damage. kristen: but it is concerning. anser hassan's life with the latest. anser: th th priorizg alld the shooter. services on places of worship, from temples to mosques and

churches, in light of the shooting at the synagogue. a junior rabbi is beefing up security ahead of tonight's services. staffers here at the synagogue in san francisco are planning for something new during friday's sabbath, security. a junior rabbi a president abc 7 news of the center spoke to abc 7 news on thursday that the extra concerning -- security concerns came after the shooting inside the synagogue. >> shocked. this is where my kids come on saturday to play, they are here where you see right now. answeer: three and video showed him brandishing a gun and fired several wound that frowns. a woman said she walked by the center with her daughter 10 minutes before the shooting. >> i'm jewish. this is terrifying to me.