sunday to do everything possible to, quote, assure that every family has a place to live. his message comes just days after "time" magazine named the pontiff its person of the year. you're watching cnn. the most trusted name in news. deadly winter weather wreaking havoc across the country. snowstorms and flooding and a record breaking heat wave. indra petersons is tracking the damage and what comes next. americans rescue from south sudan as a civil war breaks out of control. american soldiers becoming targets. we are live with the latest developments. a major deadline day for those who want to sign up for

obamacare. time is starting to run out. >> i hope i'm awake. it is monday, december 23rd. it is 5:00 a.m. is it that early? >> it's 2:00 a.m. what you're used to in l.a. >> yes, it is. we begin with wild and extreme weather in the days before christmas. flooding, ice storms and tornadoes and record breaking heat. >> from the midwest to the south to the east and as far north as canada. at least eight weather-related deaths have been reported. the weather creating havoc for holiday travelers and really bad timing for all of this. >> oh, my goodness. in oklahoma city, it was shop at your own risk. those are sheets of ice crashing down from the roof in an outlet mall. a holiday shopper captured this all on camera. >> wow. in wichita, kansas, look at this. nearly half a foot of snow and freezing temperatures turned roads into sheets of ice.

police advise residents not to drive if they didn't have to. one man was killed in an accident on a snow covered road the there. people in northern louisiana are clearing up after a weekend storm that brought strong winds and some tornadoes leaving tens of thousands in the dark. one resident says people were stunned and scared. >> the lights went out and they came back on so everybody thought that we were going to be okay but then they went off again. the winds hit. the doors started opening up. i went to hold the doors. the next thing we know, saw little like circles on the ground and that is when stuff started falling so that is where it went crazy from there. you can hear the windows busting in the cars and on the building and that's when everybody took off and started hiding. >> cleanup this morning in arkansas. the national weather service saying an ef-2 tornado touchdown down in the town of hughes and ripping off roofs.

>> there is more in louisville, kentucky. strong winds from a storm snapped power lines and causing a massive fire at a local ford dealership. thousands of residents were without power for hours but a dozen cars were either damaged or destroyed. five storm-related deaths reported in kentucky. authorities say three people drowned near new hope after their suv trapped in floodwat s floodwaters. two people managed to escape but the others couldn't. rising floodwaters in the town of larue, ohio, forced evacuations. emergency crews went door-to-door telling people they would have to leave their home. they had to use rafts to rescue some residents who were stranded. to show how strange this weather system is, parts of the east coast experiencing record breaking winter warmth. it's something new york city tourists never expected to find this time of year. just days before christmas. >> it's warmer here than in los angeles right now. >> what does that tell you?

>> now it's too warm. i'm here in a t-shirt. i have my sweater, i have jacket. i have too much stuff! but it's nice. >> i brought boots to walk through snow. i have a heavy parka and i was so warm yesterday that i had to buy a t-shirt so that i could come out! >> you usually don't have that problem in december in new york city. >> no. the only reason -- the best reason to live in los angeles is that can i tease people in new york how wonderful it is out there and it's warmer here. >> maybe you brought the louisiana weather with you. >> no charge. >> indra petersons is covering this. we talked last week. you kind of called this and said this was going to happen and sure enough it did all across the country. >> you're amazing. thank you. >> thank you. >> bless you. >> i'm not complaining about 70s. they are going to be leaving quickly. christmas will feel like christmas and temperatures drop down a good 40 degrees on the east coast. first let's talk about what we have seen. look at the amount of rain we

have already seen. as much as 10 inches in illinois. flooding concerns are present in indiana. no shortage of severe weather in the south. let's talk about what we are dealing with currently. we are left with a tail end of that system making its way off shore. we are still seeing some rain farther to the south but to the north right now we are talking about that contrast and icing concerns in through maine and that is by the time the morning ends subside and throughout the day start to see it make its way off the shore and end of the system making its way off the carolinas last. another 1 to 3 inches is possible and still flooding concerns there. how about the temperature contrast? 70 degrees right now in tampa. this is a current temperature. the negative 22 in bismarck. a 90-degree temperature difference across the country right now and what we call wacky weather. what everyone is talking about but i'm a bearer of bad news. if you like it warm there you go. cold air will be spreading in quickly. many of your temperatures will

be going down and it will be going down significantly. we will go from 30 degrees to 10 degrees below normal on christmas day. christmas, you kind of want to be cold, right? >> that is true. but i have to say i'm really enjoying this weather. >> it is 51 degrees in west hollywood and 61 here. that is crazy. >> when are you leaving? is that why it's getting cold. >> exactly. you'll get the bad tweets, the funny tweets. a key deadline day for president obama's health care law. today is the final day for most americans to sign up for health insurance coverage that would begin january 1st and the white house is putting a positive spin on the state of the health care marketplace. we get more from cnn's athina jones. >> good morning. >> reporter: the latest health care enrollment figures from the president. the president said more than 500,000 people have signed up at

healthcare.gov in the first week of december alone. states are seeing mixed results. some enrolling people much more quickly than others are. the president said since october 1st, more than a million people have signed up for health insurance either by the state exchanges or the federal exchange. we won't get the enrollment figures for the entire month of december until january so those are the latest numbers we have. back to you. >> thank you very much. the president in a letter to congress says more military action might be necessary to protect u.s. citizens in south sudan. a country that appears on the brink of an all-out civil war. the state department says americans and other foreigners were evacuated from the country on sunday a day after u.s. military aircraft came under attack by rebel forces during a rescue operation. cnn's arwa damon is monitoring the latest developments and live now in nairobi, kenya.

good morning, arwa. >> good. >> reporter: it was challenging to get the americans and others out of the town where it happened because they were able to alert the rebel forces that were around the u.n. compound this was a humanitarian mission. they are flying in and contracted by the u.s. the 15 or so americans who presented themselves to the u.n. compound there and eventually lifted out to the capital of juba and out out of the country. in total the u.s. saying it has evacuated around 380 americans. other countries as well continuing to evacuate their citizens. the u.s. has also said it is considering sending in more assets to try to ensure the protection of u.s. assets and civilians, especially trying to secure the u.s. embassy in south sudan. the violence that has taken place over the last week has really taken a lot of people by surprise. south sudan is a very young

country, the world's newest country. there have been longstanding tensions between the dinka and the new air communities and those really flare up around a week ago and resulting in this widespread violence that has endangered not only the lives of foreign nationals but perhaps more importantly the lives of the south sudanese as well and tens of thousands have flocked to various u.n. compounds trying to seek safety. the violence is continuing to spread with even more areas falling to rebel control. most recently the town of bento, which is in the oil rich state of unity, the government saying, at this point, it has lost control of that city. >> arwa, thank you. demands from top israeli officials for spying on israelis.

the scandal is also renewing calls for the release of jonathan pollard, a former american intelligence analyst who is in prison in the u.s. for nearly three decades for spying on behalf of israeli. world power struck a deal with iran on freezing its nuclear program but now another challenge, figuring out how to implement it. on sunday, iran's foreign minister say they are making slow progress and said all parties in the talks should avoid troublesome issues but didn't elaborate on that. it says it gives iran cover to expand the program. chuck schumer is asking for an investigation on target. the debt and credit card numbers of shoppers were stolen. three class action lawsuits have been filed against the big box retailer seeking more than 5 million in damages.

>> if there is one silver lining in this mess, it's perhaps that we could use this troubling news as a lesson for the future. we could get to the bottom of how target's instore payment security was compromised in order to make sure that target, in the future, and all other stores, adequately protect consumers from this kind of devastating theft. target is offering free credit monitoring to customers affected by the breach. coming up on "early start" on this monday morning, former nba star dennis rodman returning home from north korea this morning on a mission to bring the u.s. and the community country closer together through basketball. so will he achieve the goal? we are going to dive into that. a teenage girl shot in the head when bullets from a drive-by shooting fly into her home. the miracle that saved her life, coming up next.

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but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. life could be hectic. as a working mom of two young boys angie's list saves me a lot of time. after reading all the reviews i know i'm making the right choice. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. with honest reviews on over 720 local services. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job, and i don't have time for unreliable companies.

angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today. welcome back to "early start." developing right now, we are expecting a second member of a russian feminist punk group to be relieved from prison some time today. their release was proofed last week when russian lawmakers backed a sweeping amnesty announced by president putin. they were performing a punk prayer last year that criticized putin. the worm returns.

former nba star dennis rodman drawing a crowd as he arrives in beijing overnight following his trip to north korea. his latest visit to pyongyang was to train some basketball players. what is rodman saying about this trip, anna? >> in one word, awesome. he said his trip was awesome. he didn't, however, meet with the north korean leader kim jong-un which all of us found quite unusual. dennis rodman talked about that before he went into the kingdom about catching up with kim jong-un but that did not happen. however, he says he doesn't have to do that on every trip. this was his third trip to north korea at a time when there is a real political upheaval underway. it was less than two weeks ago that kim had his uncle executed and really there has been a lot

of turmoil ever since, but rodman didn't catch up the leader but he did train the north korean basketball team as they are preparing for an exhibition next month as they celebrate the birthday of kim junk un. >> do they think they are getting a team together? what is the word in the south? the countries do not trust each other at all. what do the south make of rodman's antics, his trips to the north? >> on the first part of your question, rodman is yet to announce a team that will be competing against the north koreans. he is putting together a bunch of american former nba stars and we are hearing reports that he hasn't been able to lock in all of those players because they are concerned about that political instability. as for what people here in south

korea feel, it's a bit of a circus. you have to remember that north korea is one of the most oppressi oppressi oppressi oppressi oppressi oppressi oppressive regimes in the world. we are learning it wasn't over a power struggle which is what some analysts had been saying at the time of the execution but the actual fact it was a conflict of interest. some business deal gone wrong, the details are rather vague at this stage but that is what we are hearing. the situation is serious. dennis rodman comes in and draws attention what is happening in that country. as far as rodman is concerned, he there so play basketball and not interested in the politics. >> in your sense of that south

korean interesting, the interest between the two, is that south koreans wanting to make them look bad or is this for really? >> i think this is for real. from what the south koreans feel. these. re people here in south korea know the country as well as they possibly can. the national intelligence security report seems to indicate that this is over a conflict of interest as opposed to a power struggle. there was a feeling that kim jong-un was trying to consolidate power by eliminating his uncle. now it would seep that he punished him and was really sending a strong message to say that he is the man in control. >> absolutely fascinating.

anna, thank you very much for us in south korea. back closer to home. colorado officials offering condolences to the family of claire davis. the 17-year-old was shot at her high school. she died over the weekend after eight days in a coma. the shooter, an 18-year-old classmate, also killed himself at the scene. karl pierson's parents are heart broken by the girl's death. police say pierson seemed to choose davis at random. the family of a 13-year-old california girl declared brain dead is not giving up hope. they plan to rally outside the hospital today where she remains on life support following complications from a tonsillectomy. her mothers say hospital officials are prmpted to pull the plug but a restraining order has cleared the way for a second opinion of her condition and those results are due this week. this is an incredible story. seattle police say a teenager's glasses may have saved her life. 16-year-old alonzo bryant had fallen asleep with her glasses on when someone sprayed her

familiar's home with bullets and one of them hit alonzo right between the eyes but get this. her glasses kept the glasses from going all the way into her head. >> i heard a big bang and then my nose start bleeding so i went to go tell my mom. >> the glasses saved her life. yes, i definitely believe that and i thank god for that. >> i don't know why somebody did this to me, to our family to shoot our house. if i didn't have my glasses on, i wouldn't be here. >> police say someone in the house was involved in gangs and alonzo was not a target to the shootings. a devastating wildfire in california is now fully contained. they are watching for hot spots. the flame started last monday destroying 34 homes and including sandborn's home on pfeiffer ridge. she describes as being chased away by the approaching inferno.

>> there was just an enormous wall of flame. actually, the smoke becomes illum mati illuminated at night. it was close. it was balls of fire, you know? hot, fast. you know, just ripping along. >> it's a beautiful area. sanborne says she will rebuild and grateful no one was hurt and cause of the fire is still under investigation. attorneys in utah set to tell a federal judge today to hold off on a ruling he issued declaring that utah's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. the decision prompted a flurry of same sex weddings and the state sought an emergency band-aid when it requested to immediately halt same-sex marriage in the state but a judge denied that request. peyton manning breaking nfl records this morning. exciting stuff. joe carter explains in "the bleacher report" coming up next.

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just ask the carolina panthers. of course, this is a team that you got to watch out for. carolina in the playoffs for the first time in five years. they locked up that spot yesterday with a stunning win over new orleans. remember, back in the beginning of the month, the saints throttled this team. carolina scored the game winner in the final 20 seconds and they went on to win. tony romo threw away the game last week and threw the game winner there week. dallas beat the redskins to remain in the playoff hunt. cowboys play the eagles and winner is in and loser is done. can't say i saw this coming. arizona cardinals pulled off the biggest win yesterday beating seattle in seattle with a touchdown in the final 2:00. with the win the cardinals still have a chance to get into the playoffs. packers could have made it four fantastic finishes but a pass in the game's final play did not go for a green bay touchdown. the steelers pulled off the win and still have an outside shot to get in the playoffs. of course, they need a lot of help. the packers have to win next week to get in.

trending on bleacherreport.com what can you say about peyton manning? oh, man is he good. he is once again on the top of the list for the most touchdown passes in a single season. the broncos quarterback threw four touchdowns yesterday against the texans. that gives him 51 touchdowns for the year and breaks the record of 50 set by new england's tom brady in '07. peyton manning still has one more game left to play. likely to get a few more touchdowns next week and then a lot to look forward to with the playoffs and the broncos being a super bowl favorite this year. guys? >> oh, the broncos. >> a good year for him. >> not bad. thanks, joe. good to see you. the top headlines and everything you need to know for the day, everything, so stay with us. we will be right back after this break. stick with innovation.

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deadly winter storm creating catastrophe across the country. we are seeing floods and snowstorms and record breaking heat thrown in that mix. indra petersons, what is going on? breaking news. an american behind bars in dubai

detained for months for posting a parody on youtube, finally getting his day in court. what will he be set free? we are live. and target under fire. now facing class action lawsuits. investigators are trying to figure out how hackers stole credit card information from 40 million shoppers. crazy. welcome back to "early start." i'm miguel marquez, or at least i think i am. >> you sure are. i'm pamela brown. great to have you with us. a white place in many places across the country but the start of winter has seen wild and, in some cases, deadly weather. snow, ice, flooding and record warmth where you'd least expect it and weather extremes affecting prechristmas holiday travel. >> oh, my goodness. in oklahoma city, it was shop at your own risk.

those are sheets of ice crashing down from the roof in an outlet mall. a holiday shopper captured this all on camera. a deadly accident in wich s wichita, kansas. nearly half a foot of snow and freezing temperatures turned roads into sheets of ice. police advise residents not to drive. one man was killed in an accident on a snow covered road there. a major cleanup under way in northern louisiana. a weekend tropical storm brought winds and some tornadoes there. tens of thousands of people left without power. >> they are cleaning up this morning in parts of arkansas. the national weather service says a tornado touched down in the tune of hughes ripping off the roofs of homes and other structures and cnn's affiliate wreg reporting the storm is blamed for at least one death. >> everything came down on top of me and the kids. we were sitting in there for an afternoon snack and just sitting there. the wind came up and it just went everywhere. and i threw my whole body weight over the top of my 16-month-old child to save his life and i

found my daughter and slung her towards the bathroom to save her life. no clothes. the christmas gifts were demolished. everything is gone. >> a tropical storm that brought down power lines in louisville, kentucky, a fire in a local ford dealership there. a dozen cars on that lot were either damaged or destroyed. >> just crazy. five storm-related deaths reported in kentucky. authorities say three people there drowned near the town of new hope after their suv became trapped in floodwaters. two people in the vehicle managed to escape but couldn't save the others. it doesn't stop there. rising flood water in the town of larue, ohio, forcing evacuations there. emergency crews went door-to-door telling people they should leave their homes. they had to use a raft in some cases to rescue some of the stranded residents there. go figure. mother nature really served one up this time. parts of the east coast are experiencing record breaking

winter warm. 51 right now in west hollywood, california. it's 60 degrees here and tourists are shocked. >> we packed really warm clothes and now it's too warm. i'm here in a t-shirt. i have my sweater. i have jacket. i have too much stuff! but it's nice. >> i brought boots to walk through snow. i have a heavy parka and i was so warm yesterday that i had to buy a t-shirt so that i could come out! >> including you coming from los angeles. >> i'm loopy to begin with. this is bad. indra petersons, make sense of will all for goodness sakes! >> sounds like people need to listen to the forecast is all i hear there. >> i listen. >> you sit next to me. you got me. let's see what we have seen over the weekend. heavy amounts of rain and we are talking about flooding concerns in the area. 10 inches of rain in illinois and towards indiana, 5 inches of

rain. where we currently seeing the rain is the mid-atlantic to the southeast and watching for another 1 to 3 inches of rain today and flooding concerns as it slowly makes its way off shore. the contrast still in maine icy concerns and quarter of an inch is still possible in places already seen half an inch of icing. the rain is making its way off the coast and exiting the carolinas last. the little piece there as far as the rain. we keep going with contrast. around the lakes still snow expected today and a little bit of a wave kicking through and maybe 1 to 3 inches of a light dusting in that region. otherwise it is the temperatures. the big story. 70 in tampa right now and negative 22 in bismarck. over 90-degree temperature difference is across the country but what goes up must come down. temperatures going across the country. that cool air will be moving in and temperatures will quickly go from that good 30, 40 degrees boof normal to good 10 degrees

below normal. >> my time in l.a. i can mock you all for being here. fantastic! >> i have my family for that so i'm good. >> indra, thank you very much. today is the last day to sign up for obamacare if you want your coverage to begin january 1st, 2014. more 500,000 people have signed up in the first few weeks of december alone and since october 1st, more than a million have signed up for health insurance ej through state exchanges or the federal marketplace. to the case of an american jailed in the united arab emirates he learned his sentence a and sarah joins us live from abu

dhabi. >> he did give a sentence to kasim and his friends in prison over a video that was supposed to be funny about a dub ip suburb and thought it was an entertaining video and wound up in jail. the family members in court today and some had tears in their eyes but, ultimately, they looked a bit confused because they he couldn't figure out exactly when these men will get out of prison but the judge did say he will get one year in prison, him and the other two foreign nationals get one year in prison plus a fine that equals 2,700 u.s. dollars. we understand from port watchers the sentence will not be as long as you're hearing. they will have time served. so so far they have served eight months but the sentence isn't based on a calendar year so the family is hoping he will get out in the next couple of weeks but they are still waiting to hear from the attorneys who will get the actual verdict on paper so they can look at the release

date so they know that their loved ones are coming home. this has been a very stressful time as you might imagine for the men in prison and the families themselves and they are just waiting to make sure that they can get their hands on their loved ones. we do not yet know but we understand the court may deport the foreign nationals including kasim but we are still waiting to hear from the attorneys to get that confirmed. >> you can see why the families are confused when they officially will be out. sarah, thanks for breaking it out for us and i know you will stay on top of this story for us. 15 american citizens from city of bor in south sudan. u.s. official are trying to make sure no one left behind. fighting has put south sudan on the edge of civil war and washington is urgiing all americans to leave. four u.s. troops were hurt on saturday when they were on an evacuation plane that came under fire.

demands from top israeli official for end to a spying there. revelation coming from documents leaked by edward snowden. they say the spy agency intercepted e-mails from the offices of the country's top former leaders. the scandal is also renewing calls for the lease of jonathan poleard, a former american intelligence analyst who is in prison for the u.s. for nearly three decade for spying on behalf of israel. world power struck a deal with iran on freezing its nuclear program but not another challenge to figure out how to implement it. on sunday, iran's foreign minister said they are making slow progress and said all parties in the talk should avoid troublesome issues but he danny elaborate. critics of the deal say it gives iran cover to expand the program. here at home. new york senator says that target needs to answer for the massive security breach that saw the debit and credit cards of numbers of some 40 million target shoppers stolen over 20-day period. chuck schumer is calling on the

federal consumer protection bureau to investigate. >> if there is one silver lining in this mess, it's perhaps that we could use this troubling news as a lesson for the future. we could get to the bottom of how target's instore payment security was compromised in order to make sure that target, in the future, and all other stores, adequately protect consumers from this kind of devastating theft. target is offering free credit monitoring to customers affected by the breach. three class action lawsuits have already been filed against the big box retailer, including more than 5 million dollars in damages. tragedy in the streets of new york when a man takes a custody fight over his son into his own hands. dozens of homes burn to the ground. hundreds of acres torched and finally some good news in the california wildfire fight. paul walker's last "fast and furious" film getting a release

date. when we come back, we will tell but that and more. my customers can shop around. but it doesn't usually work that way with health care. with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and cost estimates, so we can make better health decisions. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. peoi go to angie's listt for all kinds of reasons. to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

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hosts the olympics next year. police say a father threw his 3-year-old son off a manhattan high rise building and then jumped to his own death. they say 35-year-old dmitry kenrickoff was involved in a custody dispute with his estranged wife and just had picked up his son dressed in christmas pajamas. he posted on youtube that he aspired to be the best father and husband. a colorado high school student shot in the head by a classmate has died. state officials offered condolences to claire davis's family. she was shot apparently at random and spent eight days in a coma. her attacker karl pierson also killed himself. his parents say they are heart broken by the girl's death. desperate plea from a 13-year-old california teen with

complications after ton sill surgery. doctors say she has no chance of recovery but her mother says shebles the little girl -- she still believes the little girl is alive. a teeth eyeglasses may have saved her life. alonzo bryant had fallen asleep on the couch with her glasses on when her family's home was suddenly sprayed with bullets. one hit her between the eyes but incredibly her glasses kept the bullet from going all the way into her head. amazing. >> i heard a big bang and then my nose start bleeding so i went to go tell my mom. >> the glasses saved her life. yes, i definitely believe that and i thank god for that. >> i don't know why somebody did this to me, to our family to shoot our house. if i didn't have my glasses on, i wouldn't be here. >> that poor thing. police say someone in the house was involved in gangs and alonzo was not a target to the shootings.

>> incredible. a week after it started, a wildfire in california is finally fully contained this morning. firefighters remain on the scene in big sur to watch for hot spots. the fire starred last monday blackening 197 acres and destroying 34 homes including sanborn's home on pfeiffer ridge. she describes being chased away by the inferno. away by the approaching inferno. >> there was just an enormous wall of flame. actually, the smoke becomes illuminated at night. it was close. it wasn't flames flickering. it was balls of fire, you know? hot, fast. you know, just ripping along. >> sanborn says she will rebuild and grateful no one was hurt and cause of the fire is still under investigation. dozens of animal rights activists protesting outside

seaworld in florida and trying to to change their program and drivers to change their minds from entering. it's from the cnn documentary "blackfish" showing how whales are captured and trained. >> these whales are doing stupid tricks in tiny tanks. >> after watching this documentary i learned the truth and that is why i'm here. i'm not hear to point fingers or saying people are bad for going into this park. i used to be them. >> seaworld responded with a full-page ad saying reports about the park inaccurate and promoting work it does to rescue and care for animals. state attorneys in utah will try to stop same sex marriage in the state. the decision prompted a flurry of same sex weddings and the state sought an emergency band-aid when it requested to immediately halt same-sex marriage in the state but a

judge denied that request. charles ramsey is set to write a memoir will which describe the rescue of manthe te girls who were kidnapped and held captive for over a decade. ramsey will also describe time he spent in prison. a california bishop is reaching out for the master frock. a pastor is being offered a job. reverend frank schaefer is appealing for being removed from his congregation. "fast and furious" fans the news is bittersweet. the seventh installment of the franchise to be released. walker's co-star vin diesel

revealed the new release date in a posting. the movie had been scheduled for release next summer but production was put on hold after walker's death. looks like crack and barrel pulling an about-face. they had pulled the duck dynasty merchandise from the shelves after robertson was suspended from the show for remarks. now cracker barrel saying its real defense was just to pull the goods. battle of the sequels. "hobbit 2" was on top. ron burgundy boys, they debuted with 26.7 million dollar take to finish in second place. have you seen it? i have not. i loved the first one so much, i'm afraid to see the second one.

>> usually the sequel doesn't live up. >> i'll do it, i'll do it. let's take a look now what is coming up on "new day." >> chris and kate, how are you? >> good morning. happy monday. >> we have a morning in conflict. we were debating how to say the name of the taggon in the hobbit movie. smols? >> i saw the movie but i didn't hear anybody saying that. i thought they were saying smog. >> in l.a. where you are. >> smog is what they call. it. "anchorman 2" i got mixed feelings about it because i pass for burgundy. >> the contact. >> i was going to say something dirty. >> don't do it! >> we're on air, miguel! >> deprived. >> back to news. get that off the screen! we will be back to them in a second.

we have been following a case here at united arab emirates. they put this man in jail and he has been there a long time. he finally got his hearing but he has been sentenced and this morning you'll find out what it is and why he is not coming home for the holidays. we have his brother on the show this morning to get the family's thoughts. >> absolutely. also this. they were on a school bus full of children and come back when something terribly went wrong. the driver in the orange vest lost control and two teachers jumped into action and ended up rescuing them all and taking the wheel and likely saving lives as they careen into a ditch. we will speak with the two hero teachers this morning what they are calling true heroism. coming up, target may be paying the price for a massive security breach. >> we will have the details in "money time" up next. ss than two sheets of the leading national store brand? who knew? so, how do you get your bounce?

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welcome back to "early start." everyone, it is "money time." zain asher joins us now with more on that. >> we are watching apple stock climbing up 3% and it finally signed a deal with china mobile and also sell the iphone in china. china has more than the population of the entire united states. apple executives have been calling china mobile for quite a while and it took six years in

the negotiations. apple says the iphone 5s and 5c will be sold there in time for the new year. target giving shoppers 10% over the weekend and shoppers are not flocking to the retailer as many as some had hoped. their sales slipped 3% to 4%. target offered the discounts as a wear of luring customers back to the store after a massive data breach with credit card breach of more than 40 million customers. rye tail next and analytics firm say the number of visits to the store fell 7% on friday and saturday. futures are higher this morning pointing to a continuation of the santa claus rally. dow industrials gained 465 points last week. its best week since january. friday was the 47th record close of the year. so far this year the s&p 500 and

dow and nasdaq are all up for the year. we are looking for the markets to start a little bit higher today. >> good to hear that and what we like to hear on monday. >> absolutely. coming up here on "early start," two teachers saving kids from crashing into a ditch on a school bus. their heroic moments are caught on camera. surprise! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and see your fico® credit score. (voseeker of the sublime.ro. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the

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welcome back to "early start." this is a remarkable story. two fourth grade teachers from south carolina quickly became life savers. they saved a speeding bus full of kids by grabbing the steering wheel as you see after the driver took a turn too fast and was thrown from his seat. coming up on "new day" chris and kate will be talking to the hero teachers in the 7:00 hour eastern time. new day "starts now. it was extremely swift.

it was moving. it was moving very rapidly down stream. >> the weather is frightful. a deadly storm leaves eight dead but in another part of the country, it's delightful. record warmth. so what happens as we head into christmas? our indra petersons is tracking it all. breaking overnight. the american jailed in the united arab emirates for making a parody video sentenced to one year in jail. our reporter was in the courtroom as he heard the news. flipped. wait. look at this photo. a british airway 747 crashes into a building and its wings slicing through it. what went wrong? your "new day" starts right now.>> good morning. welcome to "new day." extreme weather. that's the headline in the u.s. we had snow and ice removed from the mid-west to the northeast

making for slick roads and treacherous conditionsch there was flooding and a tornado in the southeast stretching from kentucky to mississippi. that's where the bad weather was. but in you went out in new york city, warm temperatures set records for the first weekend of winter. then fat for far from here, ice an inch thick crippled communities. dare we ask what is coming next? we do, we have someone that can answer it, indra petersen in the weather center. >> we were talking about ten inches of rain, we saw a half inch to an inch of icing into the northeast. with you talk about those record breaking temperatures. hard to believe it was the first weekend of winter. it's just two days before christmas and a powerful storm system is knocking most of the country into weather