>> gio: good morning, america. coast-to-coast storms. winter weather alerts for a foot of snow or more in the west with avalanche warnings and 15 million people under flood alerts. plus, the washout in the northeast. the storm tracks and forecasts for the week ahead. >> whit: battles raging. israel hits hundreds of targets across southern gaza, looking to root out hamas militants.

the rising death toll as prospects fade for another cease-fire with israel calling back its negotiators. the grief and anger on both sides. >> erielle: breaking overnight, serial killer suspect. the man police say appears responsible for shooting at least four men in los angeles now in custody. the high-tech way they tracked him down. >> gio: on a wing and a prayer? the disturbing "new york times" investigation detailing some air traffic controllers allegedly sleeping on duty or using alcohol or drugs amid a staffing shortage. the faa's response. >> whit: return game. the new policy by some major retailers, refunding your money, but letting you keep the item. how it's a win-win for customers and companies. plus, a big win for alabama. the crimson tide rolling over number one georgia. what it could mean for today's

college football playoff selection. robert griffin iii looks at the top contenders. >> whit: and good morning, america. so great to have you with us. great to have erielle back at the desk with us. >> erielle: good to be here. >> whit: what a night it was. gio, i know college football. you were glued to the tv yesterday. >> gio: couldn't believe it. just couldn't believe it. what a night. >> whit: big-time stuff. alabama of course upsetting top ranked georgia. in the s.e.c. championship. who makes it to the college football playoff? football analyst robert griffin iii joins us with more on today's selections. >> erielle: and also ahead, israel pounding hundreds of targets in southern gaza as hopes fade for another pause in fighting. israel recalling its team of negotiators from qatar, and hamas saying, any further talks on hostages won't happen until the war ends. >> gio: but we do start here with the stormy weather on both coasts affecting millions of americans. a very rainy day in the northeast with a snowstorm for new england, and that

atmospheric river setting up rounds of heavy snow in the west. slippery roads likely causing this accident in truckee, california. somara theodore is here with more on that rough weather. somara, good morning. >> somara: pretty rainy here in the northeast. the south really not remaining unscathed. this is jacksonville, florida, just yesterday. they had a tornado warning out there. you can see hazard lights on as folks are driving. winds gusting. no confirmed touchdown, but a funnel did form. spokane, washington, they picked up upwards of 5 inches of snow there. you can see that, and they're going to be battered with rounds of rain and snow in the northwest. what we have in this setup is a storm on the west coast, a storm on the east coast. they'll get a barrage of storms on the west coast, but the heavy rain and storms in the florida panhandle yesterday is now riding into the northeast. it's making for a really dreary and soggy sunday. we've got heavy rain through parts of new england as well, and the chance for snow in areas like maine, new hampshire, and vermont as we head through monday, and then finally this

begins to exit. that's a look at the forecast. whit, back to you. >> whit: somara, we'll check back with you in just a bit. we do move to the israel/hamas war. israeli forces hitting targets overnight in southern gaza while talks on a potential new cease-fire collapse, and israel pulls out its delegation. abc's tom soufi burridge has the latest now from sderot, israel. tom, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. we're about three miles from the gaza strip where we just heard israeli artillery firing out into gaza. about 20 minutes ago, we saw and we heard several rockets being fired from gaza here into southern israel. with the death toll in gaza this weekend quickly rising. this morning, battles raging with israeli troops on the ground in northern gaza. the idf releasing this video claiming it struck terror targets including hamas command centers and tunnel shafts. overnight, hamas rockets intercepted over central israel

with israel intensifying its bombardment of gaza. missiles slamming into a residential building in the south, in video circulating online. the injured rushed into hospitals which can barely cope. for the dead, prayers and grief. this man says, my brother is gone. his daughter, too. more than 700 killed and hundreds more injured in the past two days. according to the hamas-run gaza health ministry, in total more than 15,000 killed and rising. israeli officials insisting they're using leaflets warning residents to leave areas before they're hit and confirming negotiations with hamas have completely halted. with the war reigniting, people in tel aviv rallying overnight in support of more than 130 hostages still held in gaza. well, the fate of the remaining hostages is now more uncertain, but you can feel the energy and determination here to bring them

home. michael's brother is one of those being held. hamas killed his wife on october the 7th. mike desperate to get his brother home to his 2-year-old son. >> he lost his mother. murdered there. and his father is -- is kidnapped. he's a hostage now, and it's crucial to get him back, and to -- and to make sure that the amor will have a father. >> reporter: this weekend, israeli officials predicting a long war, and when it's over, israel now planning to control security zones around the gaza strip to prevent another attack like october 7th. >> we can't have terrorists on our borders that can just, you know, at will, cross over and butcher our people again. it must be understood that the israeli people will not stand for that any longer. >> reporter: well, a u.n. official in gaza this morning calling a hospital there, quote, a death zone.

israel saying 50 aid trucks did make it into gaza strip yesterday, but the u.n. calling the humanitarian situation there catastrophic. whit? >> whit: and tom, i want to ask you about the hostages because where do those negotiations stand now that israel has announced it's pulling out its delegation? >> reporter: well, whit, talks between the israeli government and hamas appear to have completely stalled. hamas saying there will be no further exchanges until the war ends, and as you say, israel's negotiating team leaving qatar with israel reaffirming its intention to defeat hamas. the omens for those hostages, the uncertainty doesn't look good, whit. >> whit: major concern for those families desperately awaiting for news. all right, tom, thank you. erielle? >> erielle: to los angeles now and a break in the hunt for a possible serial killer. a suspect arrested after four deadly shootings in four days. abc's jaclyn lee is there with the latest. good morning, jaclyn. >> reporter: hey, erielle, good morning. officials say that technology led to the suspect's arrest.

they say it was a combination of ballistics, surveillance video, and a license plate reader. they say a killer is now off the streets. this morning, a mystery. los angeles officials want to know how many more victims may be out there after they apprehended an alleged serial killer capping a week-long manhunt. police say 33-year-old jerrid powell allegedly killed a person every day for four days until he was arrested. three of them unhoused. another, a husband and father of two gunned down in his own garage. what is believed to be a follow-home robbery in san dimas. on friday, police scrambled to warn the unhoused they were in grave danger after three men turned up dead in separate shootings across the city since sunday. each victim was shot while they were sleeping alone on a sidewalk or alley in an open area. >> we have tens of thousands of people who are experiencing homelessness that are unsheltered that are alone, and to see three murders over a course of four days was to

recognize that that could -- that series could continue and more loss of life could occur. >> reporter: as for what led to powell's arrest, police say they identified the car used in the san dimas robbery. the license plate was put into an automatic license plate reader system. on wednesday, when the car turned up in beverly hills, officers were notified and pulled powell over. >> you said that the suspect didn't comply initially. >> he just wasn't complying with commands, and we brought our armored vehicle in to block the vehicle in, and shortly after that, he started complying. >> reporter: and officers say they found a gun in the suspect's possession. they say it matched the rounds found at the crime scene. as for a motive, officials say they do not know at this time. gio? >> gio: a terrifying case, jaclyn, thank you so much. to politics now. the iowa caucuses are now a little over six weeks away. the gop hopefuls, they are descending on the state. former president trump and florida governor desantis holding dueling rallies. white house correspondent maryalice parks is here with

more following it all. maryalice, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, gio, good morning. the two gop candidates battling it out in iowa this weekend with competing events. there are fewer than 50 days to go until the caucuses and iowa has really become make or break for florida governor ron desantis. [ applause ] >> so we cover a lot. >> reporter: with fewer than 50 days to go until the first in the nation iowa caucuses, florida governor ron desantis making good on his promise to visit all 99 counties in the state. >> the fact that i'm willing to do this, that should show you that i consider myself a servant, not a ruler. >> reporter: sharing the stage with the state's popular governor, kim reynolds, who endorsed him, desantis is all in on the state. he's hoping a strong showing in iowa could shake up the dynamics of the race. >> we are going to win the iowa caucus, and that is going to propel us to being the 47th president of the united states. >> reporter: voters telling us they are still deciding. >> i'm kind of torn between he

and nikki haley. i think either one of them would be a much better choice than donald trump. >> reporter: but it's the former president who still leads in the polls. trump stepping up advertising in the state this week and holding his own events saying that both desantis and reynolds should have been loyal to him. >> i believe in loyalty. it's not going to make any difference because the only endorsement that matters is a trump endorsement. i hate to say it. >> reporter: trump also repeating his unfounded claims that there was fraud in the 2020 election. telling supporters in iowa they should travel to other states next year to go, quote, guard the vote in heavily democratic cities such as detroit and philadelphia, and trump again referred to convicted criminals who violently stormed the capitol on january 6, 2021, as hostages unfairly imprisoned. now trump critics and election experts overnight worried that lines like that from trump, telling people to travel to guard the vote could lead to

voter intimidation. also, major shakeups of the super pac supporting ron desantis. two ceos leaving there in just two weeks. whit, that can be a sign of rocky days ahead. >> whit: okay, the first voting taking place just weeks ahead. thank you so much, maryalice. we appreciate it. staying on politics here, republican senator tommy tuberville of alabama is signaling that he may be ready to end his ten-month block on military promotions. abc's jay o'brien joins us now from capitol hill with more on that. jay, good morning. >> reporter: whit, a lot of anticipation here on capitol hill this morning that senator tommy tuberville's controversial blockade of more than 350 military nominations could come to an end in the coming days. the department of defense saying that these holdups are leaving key command positions vacant or with interim leaders and at a time with conflicts in the middle east and in ukraine, it's posing a serious national security risk they say. tuberville holding up these nominations over objections to the pentagon's abortion policy,

and after ten months of holding his ground, the alabama senator acknowledging two reporters last week that these nominees, quote, need to be promoted and, quote, have not done anything wrong. the former college football coach turned senator has been roundly criticized by democrats and even some republican colleagues in his own party for holding up these nominations. he's now saying that he's working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to get as many promotions voted on as soon as possible, but it's unclear, whit, exactly how many he'll let be confirmed. whit? >> whit: we'll be watching that, and jay, while i have you. some big news in the house. speaker mike johnson says republicans will likely move forward with that impeachment inquiry into president joe biden. >> reporter: yes. speaker johnson saying that he believes there needs to be a vote to formalize that already ongoing impeachment inquiry, and he says he believes he has the votes to move ahead with this. remember, it wouldn't be a vote to impeach the president. instead it would be a vote to solidify the already ongoing

months'-long impeachment investigation house republicans have been conducting into whether or not president biden had direct connections into his son's overseas business dealings. the republicans have presented no direct evidence of that. republicans telling me a vote on that impeachment inquiry could come as soon as this week. >> whit: all right, jay, and on a much happier note, congratulations are in order. i understand you're engaged. we saw the pictures. >> reporter: that means the world. i love everybody at that desk, and everybody in that control room, and my fiancee haley and i could not be happier. >> whit: congratulations. we love you too, and apparently we're not the only ones. she said yes, and we'll look for more pictures on that, jay. tune into "this week" later on this morning. george stephanopoulos speaks with white house national security council spokesman john kirby and israeli minister of strategic affairs, ron dermer about the phase of the israel/hamas war, following the end of the week-long truce. plus, he speaks with senator james lankford about the bipartisan negotiations for a

bill tying border security to foreign aid for ukraine and israel. >> erielle: we will be watching, whit. we turn now to the southern border where a new influx of migrants is straining resources. officials temporarily suspending operations at one remote crossing. abc's zohreen shah joins us now from los angeles with the latest. good morning, zohreen. erielle, migrants have been showing up in a remote part of the arizona border, and custom and border protection officials say this region is the busiest along the southern border right now, and across the country, cities are grappling with an influx of asylum seekers. this morning, u.s. customs and border protection officials suspending operations at a border crossing in lukeville, arizona, on monday to free agents to deal with increased levels of migrant encounters. over 17,000 migrants apprehended in the tucson region over one week compared to just over 23,000 encounters in the entire month of november last year. cbp transporting some of those

migrants to other parts of the border for removal. this coming after texas officials temporarily suspended vehicle operations at one crossing in eagle pass last week. volunteers across the country opening doors despite the increased numbers as winter approaches. >> we want to walk alongside them, work with them. >> reporter: the top cbp official telling abc last week that decreasing or suspending processing at ports of entry is one way they can redirect resources to deal with apprehensions. >> we searched those locations. we have to for the safety and security of our officers and our agents to the migrants we encounter, and frankly to maximize the enforcement efforts that we have under way. >> reporter: and texas must now remove a thousand-foot-long barrier installed in the rio grande in july. this decision on friday coming after a federal appeals court ruling that the state must remove the buoys. governor abbott quickly fought back saying the state would immediately look for a re-hearing from the court.

he even said he would go to the supreme court to reverse the decision which he says is clearly wrong. gio? >> gio: zohreen, thank you so much. and we're learning now about a violent attack overseas on tourists near the eiffel tower in paris. one person killed and two others injured. french police say a man known to authorities for having psychiatric issues attacked a couple with a knife, killing a german tourist. he was then chased by police and attacked another two people with a hammer before being arrested. after his arrest, police say he expressed anguish about muslims dying in afghanistan and palestinian territories. >> whit: and time now for a check of the weather. somara theodore watching that. we got snow in some places. big storms rolling in. >> somara: both coasts, in fact. west virginia out in snowshoe, they've got some nice snow up there, so they're enjoying the slopes. out west though, we've got big storms that will be rolling through. in fact, in parts of the cascades, we have avalanche alerts issued.

stevens pass, they saw 40 inches of snow in three days. avalanche warning issued through parts of the northwest and other alerts as well. winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings through idaho and even high wind alerts and we're keeping a close eye on that flood watch on the coastline because between seattle and portland, portland down to medford and eureka, we could see 5 to 15 inches of rain. they saw -- you could see anywhere from a half of foot to a foot of snow further inland. again, they are in for rounds of storms in the coming days. that's a look at the weather across the country. let's see what's going on a little closer to home.

>> somara: and that, my friends, is your local forecast. erielle? >> erielle: somara, thank you. to the big weekend in college football. the conference championships and then the playoff selections today. top-ranked georgia falling to -- failing to take the s.e.c. crown, falling to alabama. a big upset there. abc's morgan norwood is here with that. good morning, morgan. >> reporter: good morning, guys. what a night. what a shocking upset. i mean, so many people talking about this game, and it's got pretty big implications. alabama's shocking win over top-ranked georgia now creating a big head-scratcher for the selection committee who by the way in just a few hours will announce which four teams will face off in the playoffs. >> to the end zone. and it's caught. >> reporter: this morning, all eyes on selection show sunday after a chaotic end to the college championship weekend. >> they are 12-1. >> reporter: in a stunning upset, alabama handing georgia

its first loss of the season, ending their 29-game winning streak in the s.e.c. championship game, but the big question, whether the bulldogs will be knocked out of the playoff picture. >> touchdown, texas. >> reporter: texas, which beat the crimson tide earlier this year, ending their 13-year conference title drought with a 49-12 win over longtime rivals, oklahoma state. >> texas wins the fourth. >> reporter: making their case for the college football playoffs. >> these guys know, we have been talking about being champions since this summer, and we haven't backed off of it, and i've challenged them. i made it very known publicly that's what this season was about. >> touchdown, wolverines! >> reporter: and the michigan wolverines going head to head with the iowa hawkeyes to defend their two-time league title. coach jim harbaugh returning to the sideline after serving a three-game suspension in the big ten in the ncaa sign-stealing investigation. and in the acc, florida state taking on louisville to clinch its first acc title since 2014.

the seminoles hoping this victory earns them a green light to the college football playoffs. and washington securing its ticket to the playoffs with a win over the oregon ducks. so listen up. selection show kicks off today at noon on our sister network, espn. the college football playoffs, we'll announce the playoff teams, top 25 rankings and the new year's bowl games. a lot of people going to be tuning into that. you couldn't help notice that you have crimson tie on. is that for the crimson tide? roll tide? >> gio: we love alabama. it's reversible. it's also blue. >> whit: maybe for u-dub. i don't know. >> erielle: we appreciate it. coming up in our next half hour, football analyst robert griffin gives us his take on the college football playoff selections. >> gio: also coming up here, scares in the air after those terrifying near-misses. a shocking new report takes us inside air traffic control. what some controllers allegedly did. >> erielle: just keep it. the surprising policy for many retailers this year to deal with holiday gift returns.

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>> building a better bay area moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7 news. >> good morning. i'm stephanie sierra. tomorrow about 80 trade union workers who maintain san francisco's public schools are striking. they include plumbers, carpenters, roofers and other trade workers from san francisco unified school district's common crafts. they say they're demanding unpaid wages the district owes and other issues they have with an agreement made in 2021, picketing will begin at 6 a.m, an arbitration meeting is set for wednesday. to weather now and a break from the rain. drew is tracking it all. good morning. >> yeah, good morning, steph. a live look outside showing you we have a lot of cloud cover out there live. doppler seven tracking some pockets of drizzle in the north bay. but that's about it. we do expect a mostly cloudy day temperatures for the most part only in the low 60s. steph >> all right, drew, thank you all for joining us. the news continues right now with gma.

>> many people who are unhoused tell me they don't think city hall is doing enough to help them. >> many downtown retailers have already said enough is enough. they've closed shop and they've left. >> do you ever wonder what could help fix the fentanyl crisis in san francisco? >> the mayor, the dea, the chief of police? one hour of direct questions about the city's biggest issues and the future of san francisco. take action. san francisco real answers for a better bay area streaming live monday night at seven. >> and love so deep we cannot measure. ain't nobody me better makes me happy me feel this way. >> ain't nobody she loves me better than you.

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career. the king of reggaeton is taking the stage for one final time in san juan, and tonight he's inviting all of us, all the fans to attend. the show being livestreamed globally for a $20 fee. >> erielle: i'll be tuning in. >> gio: i cannot believe this is it for him. that song never goes out of style. >> erielle: a legendary song. >> gio: we're all jamming out to it -- >> erielle: at robin's wedding. it was featured, and it was good stuff. >> whit: it was. >> gio: let's look at the other stories we're following on this sunday morning. happening in queens, new york, overnight. the nypd says four people were stabbed to death at a home during a domestic dispute. a fifth person was injured. the home was then set on fire. two officers responding to the scene. they were also injured. one slashed in the face, the other in the neck. the suspect was shot by police and killed. >> erielle: also right now, former congressman george santos who was expelled from congress on friday is vowing to take on some of his former colleagues. santos posted to social media that he will file ethics complaints against various new york republicans accusing them of offenses including insider

trading, possible campaign finance violations, and stealing public funds. >> whit: and italian officials have ramped up efforts to secure a 12th century tower in the city of bologna, they say has been leaning since it was built. fears it could collapse. authorities have it under a yellow alert meaning caution, but not imminent danger. >> gio: wow, that's amazing. i'm sure more people will go out and take photos with that. we'll start this half hour with an investigation into air traffic control. we talk so much here about the troubling number of near-misses at u.s. airports. now, "the new york times" has found reports of some air traffic controllers being drunk or sleeping on the job. this morning, stunning allegations into a "new york times" investigation detailing air traffic controllers allegedly sleeping on duty or using alcohol and drugs. "the times" saying out of hundreds of reports to the faa

hotline, at least seven say controllers fell asleep on the job, and five say they were under the influence. neil burk was a controller for more than a decade and left the faa last year following a medical issue. >> mistakes do happen, and whether it's on the air traffic side or the pilot's side, or an airport vehicle maybe just crossing a runway without getting a clearance to, you know, so you always kind of want to make sure you're paying attention. >> gio: while the reports appear to be extreme, all eyes are on that string of serious near-misses that could have injured or killed hundreds. this one earlier this year. >> southwest abort. fedex is on the go. >> gio: a fedex flight cleared to land in austin came within a hundred feet of a southwest plane taking off. the faa telling abc news, the report in "the new york times" is not reflective of the overall high safety standard that exists through the national airspace system. flying has never been safer.

but the faa has faced staffing shortages for years. a government report just last month found historically high levels of overtime among air traffic controllers leading to, quote, absenteeism, lower productivity, and fatigue. despite more passengers and planes in the air, there are about a thousand fewer air traffic controllers than there were ten years ago. >> protect your passengers. everything else is a sideshow. >> reporter: dennis tajer is a an american airlines pilot and spokesperson for their union. >> when an air traffic controller is fatigued, they're more likely to make a mistake. that mistake is going to land on my flight deck. thank goodness we have professionals out there, whether they're seasoned and experienced or have years of experience, that are still capturing these errors to prevent accidents. >> gio: i asked secretary of transportation pete buttigieg about the close calls earlier this year. can you assure the american public right now that it is safe to fly in this country?

>> flying is safe, but in order to keep it that way, we have to be relentlessly focused and frankly it is our duty to be concerned, even when these incidents in the grand scheme of the statistics look extremely rare. every one of them is a call to action. >> gio: and the air traffic controllers union also denounced the report as an inaccurate portrayal of air traffic controllers, but acknowledged there are ongoing staffing issues and fatigue. look, the warnings here are dire from just about everyone. even the secretary told me that we cannot take our safety record for granted. >> erielle: it is really alarming and i'm glad you're following it of course. >> whit: important info. thank you, gio. appreciate it. this morning we do move onto this. an oregon woman is telling an incredible story of survival. leah brown was close to the summit of mt. hood when she fell several hundred feet. she survived with just minor injuries somehow, and credits rescuers with saving her life. it took them seven hours to bring her off the mountain after a fall that could have been much worse.

>> i dropped one of my tools that wasn't attached to me and the other one that was attached like got tangled and i couldn't get a hold of it, so i didn't have anything. >> whit: brown says it will take time, but she plans to head back to the mountain which she always calls her happy place. ever notice we do these stories, they always go back. whether it's surfing, attacked by a shark, going back. >> erielle: if you love the mountains or the water, you'll go back. somara, we're talking about rain here in the northeast. >> somara: yes, we are. another soggy day, and worth noting in mt. hood, they actually have an avalanche warning there now, so don't go back now. this is bar harbor, maine, right now, beautiful earth cam here. winter weather advisory, that's along the coastline though. you go farther inland and that's where the totals are coming down and we have winter storm warnings. conditions deteriorating quickly, the higher in elevation you go. look at a few of these totals. throughout upstate new york, maybe 1 to 3 inches, but when we get into the pinks, the mountain there, that's a bull's-eye.

anything from 10 to 12 inches to of snow. this now through thursday. now bigger picture, will the snow stay on the ground? it will have trouble on the east coast as temperatures will be above average in the temperature outlook in the week to come. you look out west though. they're getting rounds of storms, rain, snow. things will be much cooler and below average on the west coast. definitely not giving what needs to be gave for winter weather on the east coast. that's a look at the weather across the country. let's see what's going on a li >> somara: and that's your local forecast. another dreary day for us on the east coast. >> erielle: womp womp. >> somara: we can snuggle up and have hot cocoa and stuff. >> erielle: that's true, it is cozy. >> whit: and tomorrow i can

finish the christmas lights. >> somara: hurry up, please, for all of us. >> whit: exterior illumination. coming up here on "good morning america," don't like it? just keep it. how some stores are changing their return policies. i've seen 9.2 trillion living rooms. i love home decor. and wayfair. the wayfair homes just have that razzle dazzle. they redid the guest room. all at prices you can't believe. wow! but you should. and blitzen fast shipping. north pole in two days. so this year go to wayfair... for goodness' sake. ho ho ho. the gifts... you have one job, nick. ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ theo's nose was cause for alarm, so dad brought puffs plus lotion to save it from harm. puffs has 50% more lotion and brings soothing relief. don't get burned by winter nose. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. ♪ my name is gary... pastell...

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how are you doing between practices? i feel pretty good. surrounding myself with a great team. de'aaron we're going to take a quick look at your knee with ultrasound. everything is looking great. but not just for me. for them. it's great to see you again man. thanks jb. for all that is me, for all that is you, kaiser permanente. there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world. >> erielle: welcome back to "gma."

you may notice some retailers are shifting their return policies saving hassles on both sides. abc's reena roy here now, and reena, this could save you a trip to the post office. >> reporter: that's right, and that's something we can all get behind. for most of us, returns are probably pretty high up there on errands we try to avoid, and now we might get to do just that this holiday season. let's face it, returning a package is never fun. >> i would like to remind you that all packages must be properly wrapped. >> reporter: involving a lot of dos and don'ts like this scene from "men in black" shows. >> this is an example of go home and do it again. >> returning items is a hassle. you have to package things up, you have to figure out the shipping label. make time for that chore to bring that item back. >> reporter: but this holiday season, consumers looking to make a return could catch a welcomed break. as some retailers are saying, just keep it on certain items. according to a recent survey by returns service firm, gotrg,

this year, about 59% of major retailers are offering these so-called "keep it" return policies. if a return item costs less than what it would cost the retailer to transport, sort, and resell that product, to save money, the retailer may decide to not just refund the cash, but also allow the consumer to keep the product. >> right now a lot of families tell me that they're strapped. they're feeling the pinch so, when this does happen, some people will opt to sell the item to someone else or gift it, saving them money, and everyone is desperate to do that these days. >> reporter: but it's no surprise companies don't advertise these policies, nor which products they apply to. amazon telling us in a statement that they offer this on a small number of returns as a convenience, and to help keep prices low for customers, and regarding bad actors who might game the system saying, we take fraud very seriously and will work with law enforcement to hold them accountable.

experts say there are items that companies are more likely to consider letting you keep, things like food, clothing, bedding, or baby products that may have already been used. also bulky items that would require expensive or complicated shipping. >> i ordered a rug, and when it arrived to me, i realized the color just wasn't right, and they were, like, you know what? no. just keep it. we encourage you to donate it to someone who needs it, but we don't need that thing back. >> reporter: and according to returns technology company, american shoppers are expected to return $173 billion worth of purchases between thanksgiving and the end of january. at least 25% more than last year, so these policies will probably be very useful for a lot of people, guys. >> gio: absolutely. i like the idea of gifting it. if you don't use it, just gift it. i like it. thank you, reena. appreciate it. coming up here on "good morning america," we are just

hours away from the college football selections. espn's robert griffin iii is back, and he joins us with some insight. stick around. have fun, sis! ♪ can't stop adding stuff to your cart?

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>> whit: we're back now on "gma" with an important day in college football, the playoff selections being announced, and joining us now is espn college football and nfl analyst, robert griffin iii, rg3. good morning to you. it's good to have you. >> good morning. pleasure to be on with you guys. >> whit: let's jump into it. the games yesterday were crazy, and after yesterday's conference championships, the huge alabama win over georgia, who is your number one team now? >> yep. yeah, i mean, it's really the whole weekend.

my number one team is the washington huskies. it's been confirmed that they got that dog in them, all right? they went in against oregon. a nine-point underdog and ended up dominating the game at the point of attack at the line of scrimmage. they have the best wide receiver corps in all of college football led by jalen mcmillan, and jalen pope and they got a quarterback who's a lefty, but he throws it just right. look for them to be number one in the rankings from the college football selection committee because they have ranked wins against five different opponents and in their last nine games they've won by ten points or less which means they can really get it done when they get in those close games. >> whit: wow, my wife went to uw. she's going to be happy with your ranking on that one. what are the other three teams to round out the top four? >> my other three teams would be michigan coming in at number two. at number three, i'm going to go with texas, and the fourth team that's going to get in for me is going to be florida state. >> whit: so why no alabama making it despite the huge win over georgia and winning the

s.e.c.? >> listen, when you talk about historically, the s.e.c. has been a very dominant conference, and they have been dominant in the college football playoff era and really in the bcs era as well, but this isn't about history. this is about this year, and you play the games for a reason. florida state is an undefeated conference champion and i put them at four because they don't have their starting quarterback in jordan travis, but when you look at texas, they are a one-loss big 12 conference champion who beat alabama in alabama, in tuscaloosa on the road, and alabama beat georgia. so unfortunately this year, the s.e.c. just doesn't get in on my ballot, and if you really look at it, the acc this year was 6-4 against the s.e.c. in head to head matchups and non-conference play. maybe this year, the s.e.c.'s just a little bit down, and i don't think that they should be rewarded and the committee should change their rules just because they want to get an s.e.c. team in there. >> whit: it's incredible just how all those games yesterday really reshuffled the deck. i do want to switch over to the nfl because the jaguars host the bengals on monday night football

tomorrow night. what are you looking forward to in this game? >> well, first and foremost it's got to be the quarterback play. you look at trevor lawrence. over the last two weeks, he's playing like an mvp. only josh allen and jalen hurts have accounted for more touchdowns over the past two weeks than trevor lawrence, and it really starts with his ownership at the line of scrimmage and the fact that he is utilizing play action incredibly well. they have the fourth most -- highest completion percentage off of play action right now when you look at the jags and for the bengals, they got to figure out a way to get joe mixon involved running the football, to protect the quarterback who as your wife knows is from washington. he's their all-time leader in touchdown passes. they need to protect him, give him a running game to kind of be able to settle in there. otherwise the jags will run away with it. >> whit: rg3, always love having you on. love the suit today by the way. appreciate it. come back any time. >> good catching up with you, brother. >> whit: we'll talk to you soon. you can catch the college

football playoff selection show noon on espn, and don't forget monday night football, 8:15 on abc and espn. we'll be right back. n check wit, a once-daily pill. when i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid symptom relief and helped leave bathroom urgency behind. check. when uc tried to slow me down... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc caused damage rinvoq came through by visibly repairing my colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief... lasting steroid-free remission... ...and the chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check, check, and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least 1 heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc in check and keep it there with rinvoq.

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with a luscious caramel filling. discover ghirardelli caramel squares in a bag and a bar makes life a bit better. >> learning so much more about winter and commercial break. back now with our play of the day and a driver doing a double take on the road. bethany patterson captured the moment when a cow got loose from a trailer, started hoofing it down the highway. so the cow almost had a close call with some vehicles that didn't expect to have to steer clear of this four legged obstacle. in the end, it was captured, brought back to the trailer traffic and the cow have now moved. very cute. that could have been in my home state of oklahoma. i could see that happening. >> cow. cow cow. >> making a break for it. you want to send us off with your announcer voice? no >> well, no, no. george stephanopoulos is next. israel. hamas >> what will the next phase of this war look like? plus, with the next gop debate just days away, is nikki haley's momentum enough to challenge trump? this morning on building a better bay

area moving forward, finding solutions. >> this is abc7 news. >> good morning. i'm stephanie sierra. you may be spotting coyotes more often. right now it's exploring season for the coyote pups who are leaving their dens. multiple local conservation organizations get together monthly to track the sightings of coyotes and experts say they are coming across pups in unusual places while they prefer to stay in wooded areas, they may venture out so they also say to keep your yard maintained and keep your pets indoors just to be safe in the east bay today is the grand opening of a project years in the making. hikers at pleasanton ridge park now have access to more than 18 miles of trails. the tyler ranch staging area in sunol officially opened this weekend. the space has new amenities, including dozens of parking spaces. equestri ion staging restrooms, water fountains and a family picnic area. there's also access to 2500 acres of open space for pedestrian equestrian and

bicycle use. and that lingering moisture should wrap up in time to enjoy it. how's it looking, drew? yeah, good morning, stephanie. >> take a look at live doppler seven, just a couple of pockets of isolated drizzle, one in southern marin county, a couple of pockets around penngrove. but for the most part, we are just dealing with mostly cloudy skies and temperatures, not too chilly out there. we're basically in the upper 40s to the mid 50s right now. so here's a live look from our golden gate bridge camera. you can see it is quite cloudy. get used to the cloud. cover any of those isolated pockets of drizzle we have mainly in the north bay. they're going to wrap up in the next hour or so. and that's going to lead to just a mostly cloudy day. temperatures are mainly below average this afternoon. we'll top out in the low to mid 60s by 4 p.m. so 63 in the city, in oakland, san jose, up to 65 later this afternoon stephanie. >> all right, drew, thank you. and thank you all for joining us this week with george stephanopoulos is next at river rock casino. >> there's a better way to play.

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