making news on this tuesday, december 28th. >> big dig. across the northeast and into new england. still tons and tons of snow to get out of the way. and that means millions aren't getting where they really need to be. money mess. remember that the east coast storm started with all that rain out in california. and the hardest-hit areas are still bigging out. and going public. the airline pilot who made that whistleblower video tells us why he did it. and good morning, everyone. i'm mike marusarz, sitting in for vinita nair. >> and i'm rob nelson. good morning, everyone. thousands of travelers stranded since sunday, may finally get somewhere today. the major area airports are open

again. >> and passengers on the first flight to land at laguardia here in new york, say applause broke out. emily schmidt is tracking t aftermath from washington. >> reporter: rob and mike, good morning to you. here's one sign of the blizzard's strength. it forced the nfl to play a sunday game on a tuesday night, for the first time in nearly 60 years. this is a storm that threw the entire east coast off schedule. the snow is no longer falling. but its problems continue to pile up. >> trying to shovel out of this snowstorm. of 2010. >> reporter: people from north carolina to maine, are digging out from up to three feet of snow. south of boston, the storm swelled the ocean, causing flooding and fires. new york city has seen only five worst storms since it started keeping records, nearly 150 years ago. >> some of the streets would be cleared. some of the side streets. when i came out here, i realized how bad it was. >> reporter: snow to fell two to three inches an hour, trapping

more than 500 subway passengers. >> i know. no heat. no nothing. >> reporter: new york's three airports opened last night. it's easier to move tons of snow, than passengers stranded nationwide, by more than 7,000 canceled flights. >> i came from milwaukee to cleveland. and my flight got canceled after i came here. now, i'm waiting on a flight to providence, rhode island. >> i was supposed to get out of here at 11:00. now, it's until thursday. >> boston's logan airport says it could be friday before every passenger is rebooked. >> it's like having three storms. we have the snow. we have heavy winds. when we get melting at the end of the week, we have to go out and scrape again. >> travel is a little easier by train. amtrak is warning passengers they should expect up to hour-long delays, and cancellations between boston and here in washington. rob and mike? >> emily schmidt from washington. glad she found a warm spot today, as opposed to yesterday. it will be a while before we

can remove all that snow. and things are not moving completely smoothly. imagine looking out your window and seeing this. >> oh, my god. >> a brooklyn resident posted this video on youtube, showing sanitation workers demolishing a ford explorer. they were trying to free a front end loader from the snowdrift, while horrified neighbors and the owner of that suv watched. the blizzard is going down as one of the worst ever in the northeast. and in another blustery day is on tap for today. >> accuweather meteorologist, ava dinges, has the very latest. good morning, to you, ava. >> good morning, rob and mike. in the wake of this epic blizzard in the northeast, cleanup continues. and the winds are going to cause some problems. winds about 30 to 45 miles per hour. some gusts up to 50 along the eastern seaboard. that's going to cause significant drifting and even blowing of the snow. so, it's really going to be hard to keep the roadways completely clean. and the cold air is sinking all

the way down in the southeast, as well. look at florida. much of this below the freezing mark. and setting some records in jacksonville to start the day. now, for the rest of this morning's weather from around the nation. in addition to the wet weather we expect out west, expect up to three feet of snow in the cascades and sierras. the rockies will see a foot of snow from northern utah to montana. and showers around dallas. >> a bit milder in the midwest, with 29 in the twin cities. 28 in chicago. and 38 in kansas city. mostly 30s from beantown to baltimore. a wet 45 in seattle. 51 in sacramento. the damaging effects of california's recent rainfall are still lingering. along the coast, beaches are closed because of sewage spills brought on by the floods. further inland, it's a muddy mess. patricia juarez from our abc station, reports on the cleanup in highland, california. >> reporter: the cleanup began at sunup.

bobcats moved the mud into the streets to be picked up by dump trucks. by morning, nick hernandez was able to get his 2004 harley out of the garage. >> it's been a frustrating time, really. i mean, these guys are just great. i just can't say enough about the people that have helped us here. >> reporter: over the weekend, county and city crews, along with 300 california department of correction inmates cleared streets. and a drainage channel once filled with mood and debris, is now flowing again. >> we're continuing to clean up. and we're continuing to mitigate. we're putting up sandbag diversion walls. >> reporter: crews also worked with contractors to clear out two basins responsible for last week's mudslides. the hillsides in highland have been sloughing off because of the heavy rain. all of that runoff is coming to this basis. if you look, you can see, it's already getting pretty full. the threat of more rain has crews working overtime, to remove as much as 50,000 cubic

yards of debris, filling the basin. on tuesday, more than 400 volunteers are expected to descend on the neighborhood, to help dig residents out o tv mud. >> it will take a long time with shovels. so, this is awesome. >> that report from leticia juar juarez, from our kabc station. five young men are dead in south florida, in what appears to be a tragic accident. they were found in a motel room they had rented to celebrate a birthday. police believe the cause was carbon monoxide. >> there was a vehicle running in the garage underneath that adjoining room. >> there was no drug paraphernalia found in the room. there wasn't even any science of alcohol, from what we could tell. and no signs of trauma on any of the victims. >> reporter: it's believed the vehicle was left running because it needed a jump-start. all of the victims were between

16 and 19. and from the little haiti neighborhood in miami. no foul play is suspected. when we come back, your morning orange juice. it's costing a bit more these days. the reason why is part of your business news, straight ahead. on top of that, you'll january assange may soon have a new revenue stream. the wikileaks founder, in a telling story, coming up next. @d

asian markets are lower this

morning. tokyo's nikkei average fell 0.6% of a point today. and hong kong's hang seng fell nearly one point. markets in london are closed for a holiday. the dow slipped 18 points yesterday. the nasdaq added one point. great news here this morning. the holiday shopping season appears on track to be the biggest ever. preliminary numbers show sales rose 5.5% leading up to christmas. that's the biggest jump in five years, and well above most forecasts. sales were up for almost everything, from apparel to luxury goods. meanwhile, gas prices are up again this week. the national average is $3.05 for a gallon of regular. that's an increase of nearly 7 cents just this past week. gas prices had moved higher, as oil has surged over the past three months. it could soon be paying more for orange juice. orange juice futures have hit a 3 1/2-year high. as the temperatures in florida reaches new lows. this month is on track to be the

coldest december on record in many key citrus-growing regions. frito lay is hoping to add to its sales by subtracting additives to its snacks. half of the snacks will be made from all-natural ingredients. but don't expect any changes to chee-to's or doritos, your favorite. >> i do like doritos. when we come back, the man behind the camera. the airport security video, is speaking publicly for the first time. and a young animal's wild ride across the ice. how all of the slipping and sliding got started. we'll be right back. thank you for calling usa prime credit. my name is peggy. you have problem? peggy? ok, i've been waiting for fifteen minutes for someone to pick up. you're tenacious like bull. i like. please hold. no, no, no...pe- (phones ringing)

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as some of these can be life-threatening. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. until you know how chantix affects you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. ♪ my benjamin, he helped me with the countdown. "ben, how many days has it been?" "5 days, mom. 10 days, mom." i think after 30 days he got tired of counting. [ male announcer ] it's a new year. so, ask your doctor about chantix. and find out how you could save money on your prescription go to chantix.com to learn more and get terms and conditions. the northeast corner of australia is getting swamped by some record rains. days of downpours triggered some widespread flooding there. hundreds of evacuations, as well. >> some areas got up to 11 inches of rain in just 24 hours.

creeks are hitting levels that haven't been seen for nearly seven decades. and now, for a look at the morning road conditions back here at home. icy on i-95, from maine to d.c. wet in the pacific northwest, in northern california. rain and snow on i-80, from san francisco to reno. and on i-84, from portland to boise. wet, meanwhile, on i-20 and 35 in texas. >> and if you're flying today, expect airport delays in seattle, san francisco, dallas, boston, new york, philadelphia, and washington, d.c. as emily schmidt mentioned at the start of the show, the 2010 blizzard caused damage as it sped north through new england. >> houses along the massachusetts coast had to be evacuated because of heavy flooding. jeremy hubbard is in scituate, massachusetts, with the latest. jeremy? >> reporter: rob, mike, good morning, from scituate, massachusetts. this town bore the brunt of 20-foot seas by the seawall brought on by this winter storm. not the normal picture of a

winter storm that we're used to seeing. but flooding has taken over neighborhoods in this town. again, the winds whipped the sea into the streets. dramatic pictures from monday morning as firefighters tried to battle a house fire, that started at one house. an electrical fire. that then spread to another house. they tried to rescue people here in town. they were successful. about 80 people overall along the coast had to be rescued by high waters. it's one of the problems they're dealing with here in massachusetts after the blizzard. the other thing, logan airport. they've been desperately trying to clear the runways. they're doing a great job so far. they have massive snowplows with 70-foot-long blades. they line up like an armada, as they clear off the runway there. officials say they have stayed on top of the storm, by battling it 24 hours a day. if you had to guess the number of tons of snow that's been moved out there, over the last few hours, any idea? >> hundreds. snow is melting snow. and they melt snow at approximately 120 tons per hour. >> reporter: back here in

scituate, massachusetts, one of the concerns will be high tide. high tide is what brought in the waves that flooded this town twice. they don't think when the flooding hits tuesday morning and tuesday afternoon, they don't think it will be this bad. certainly neighbors here, hope that's not the case. rob and mike, back to you. >> okay. thanks, jeremy. the airline pilot who exposed a serious flaw at airport security is going public. chris liu posted videos on youtube that shows the screening that passengers and flight crews have to undergo. >> i found a disparity between what happens upstairs and what happens downstairs. upstairs, they're going through all the metal detectors and the x-ray machines. and downstair, they're swiping a card. all i'm looking out for is the flying public. i just want to start from point "a" and go to point "b."

and if the flight is really boring, i've achieved my mission. >> chris liu will talk about that mission and how he's been punished for blowing the whistle. it will be an exclusive interview today, on "good morning america." we're learning that the embassy in london was on the list of a number of terror targets for a plot in britain. the stock exchange, houses of parliament, and shopping centers were on the list for the pre-christmas attacks. and he's revealed u.s. diplomatic secrets. now, julian assange is going to tell you more about himself. the wikileaks founder says he doesn't want to write his memoirs. but he needs to pay the money he owes on his legal bills. he's fighting extradition to sweden where he's facing sex crime charges. assange says he'll make more than $1 million from the book deal. lisa murkowski could be officially declared winner of the alaska senate race by thursday. her challenger, joe miller, says he no longer objects to the state's approval of the election

results. but that does not mean miller is giving up. he may still go to court to fight the way the state handled the race and counted the ballots. a new discovery may force scientists to rethink the basics of human evolution. archaeologists -- and in central israel, i should say. they found 400,000-year-old teeth, believed to be the earliest evidence yet of modern man. >> until now, the oldest homo sapien remains had been 200,000 years old. and scientists say, it's premature to link the teeth to modern man. >> what a discovery. switching gears now, the nfl playoff spots are filling up. >> they sure are. the latest tracks. and some of the high-flying college hoops. all the highlights from espn news. >> good morning. i'm steve weissman with your espn news update. we start with "monday night football." saints looking to clinch a playoff spot. taking on the falcons, looking to clinch home field throughout the playoffs. early fourth quarter, saints with the ball. drew brees, picked off by

chauncey davis. two interceptions for brees. this return for a touchdown. falcons lead 14-10. 3:28 to play. same score. third and three for the saints. brees, unfazed. hits jimmy graham. third touchdown in the last two games for graham. saints retake the lead, 17-14. ensuing drive for the falcons. matty ice. matt ryan, incomplete. atlanta chooses to punt the ball back to new orleans. thomas, the first down. saints win, clinching a playoff spot. meanwhile, college hoops. kemba walker and uconn, taking on pitt. big east conference action. first half, brad wanamaker, gilbert brown. take another look at this. the highlight of the game. only had six points. but this should be worth like 15. pitt up 14-7. second half, uconn down. kemba walker going coast-to-coast. he had 31 points. uconn down 31-34, after the free

throw. five minutes to go. wanamaker, splits the "d." he had 14. pitt controlling. 2:30 to go, up 11. travon woodall, and nasir robinson. he had 11 and 10. pitt beating uconn for the fourth-straight time. they win 78-63. and for all your scores and highlights, watch "the highlight express," airing until 3:00 p.m. eastern today on espn news. back to you in new york. and now, to a lucky break for a little one that was slip-sliding away. a calf that ventured into the middle of a frozen oklahoma pond, found himself literally skating on thin ice. >> a newspaper helicopter came to the rescue. the pilot, hovered over the pond. and the powerful wind from the chopper's blades pushed the little calf closer to dry land. the ice eventually cracked. but the little one made it to safety. >> nice sound effects, mike. that's good. coming up next, the stories we'll be following today.

including cleaning up from some wild weather on the east coast and the west coast. and from haiti, a dramatic deadly jump, in those who died from cholera. the numbers, straight ahead.

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crews have been working nearly around the clock to haul away tons of the white stuff. and in southern california, they're working to remove tons of mud and debris, all which came down from the mountains during last week's storm. and more rain is expected there late tonight. the investigation is continuing. but south florida officials are pretty sure five haitian-american teens found in a motel room died from carbon monoxide poisoning. they left the car running in a closed garage below the room. the cholera crisis is still plaguing haiti. the death toll from the disease has surpassed 2,700. and nearly 1 in 30,000 people have been infected since the outbreak began back in october. in philadelphia, they have been shoveling out the stadium, ahead of tonight's eagles/vikings game. it was originally scheduled for sunday night. but of course, was postponed because of the blizzard. and the lines could be long, as the megamillions jackpot has grown to nearly $200 million. that's the highest total since may. winning numbers, drawn tonight. >> good luck, everybody. for some of you, your local news is coming up next.

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finally this morning, fair game or foul play? an empty-handed couple has a big decision to make. >> the couple lost $800,000 because of a game show's mistake. so, should the network be forced to pay up?

ryan owens has the details. >> he looked so confident. >> reporter: for the first time, the couple watches the game show that almost made them millionaires. >> oh. >> reporter: gabe okoye, and brittany matyi, were contestants on the fox show "million dollar money drop." producers gave them 1 million bucks to bet on a series of questions, including which product came first? the macintosh computer, the sony walkman, or the post-it note? >> are you sure? i really, truly believed him. >> reporter: but show producers didn't, saying the walkman was first. and that $800,000, dropped right out of the couple's hands. >> technically, it was our money. you know? no matter how you try to spin it. they did give it to us. >> reporter: viewers suspected gabe was right and proved it. it turns out, 3m sold the first

post-its in 1977 under the name press n' peel. and changed the name, the same year sony walkmans hit store shelves. fox's producers admitted their research department made the mistake. so, they're going to give the money back to the couple, right? wrong. all the show offered is a do-over. the online outrage was immediate. come on, rupert "scrooge" murdoch. give them the money or cancel the dang show. the couple hasn't decided if they'll go back on "the money drop," or just drop it. >> if you love someone more than $800,000. >> reporter: ryan owens, abc news, los angeles. >> most people would agree, give them the money. but there are reports out there, that suggest they would have lost it, based on the final question of that game. questions need to be answered. >> another round how it played out in the end. >> exactly. >> either way, it looks bad. you have to feel bad for that guy. he was almost in the doghouse with his wife. thatld