. good morning, america. right now -- firing back, sony's ceo defending his decision to cancel the release of "the interview." >> we have not caved. we have not given in. >> we take you inside the hack. and the breaking headline this morning -- >> hello, north korea. >> the studio may release that movie after all. an abc news exclusive. the video ray rice did not want the public to see. what happened after the nfl star hit his then wife to be in the casino elevator? the handcuffs, the tears, and this shocking image. why was the couple kissing after the knockout punch? >> breaking his silence, the prosecutor in the michael brown case admitting that he put witnesses before the grand jury he knew were lying. >> yes. clearly were not telling the truth. no question about it.

>> law makers are now calling for a state investigation. and forget black friday, super saturday, now the busiest shopping day of the year. >> these discounts are so big. >> the final push before christmas. what you need to know before you head to the malls today to score the hottest holiday deals. and good morning, america. and couldn't think of a better reason for this guy, ryan smith, to be in for dan this morning. welcome, ryan. dan, the new daddy, taking some time off. yes. there's his beautiful wife, bianca, and their first child, alexander robert who dan lovingly refers to as baby blue steel. >> that's right. congratulations. beautiful, right? >> he looks like dan, kind of frightening and adorable. >> so adorable. so adorable. congratulations to dan and his wife, bianca.

and just remember, sleep is overrated. >> totally. coming from two parents. what is sleep, by the way? >> exactly. it's a few days away from christmas, it's a stormy week in a large part of the country. look at this map. and rob is here to tell us who will have a wet and a white christmas in just a minute. >> i'm dreaming of a white christmas. but will the nasty winter weather make it a rough ride for holiday travelers? that's where we begin this morning. the christmas rush already under way. and abc's joe kerridge is at reagan national airport just outside of washington. the lines are already getting long. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning. a busy day for those wanting to fly to get home for the holidays. as you can see behind me, there are already long lines at the ticket counters as folks are heading out. yesterday was actually the busiest travel day of the season. it went pretty well and i'll tell you why in a second. but this saturday is going to be a bit crazy too. i'll tell you why. on a normal saturday, 1.4 million fliers, today, 2 million fliers. that's a 25% increase.

and then tomorrow, a 10% increase over when a normal sunday would be. so a lot of folks flying. and the good news so far is that the weather is cooperating. it did yesterday. looks pretty good today except for the northwest. now, not everybody's going to fly. a lot of folks are hitting the roads. aaa says shy of 100 million folks will be actually driving and why the? look at the gas prices. we are paying less than $2.50 a gallon right now. 75 cents a gallon less than a year ago. so it makes it easy to travel 50 miles or more to go see your loved ones for this holiday. the good news, the weather is cooperating, paula. >> david kerley, thank you very much. ryan. >> absolutely. and the weather, as always, is the wild card in the holiday travel. and big storms could make the mess for families on the move up until christmas day. our senior meteorologist rob marciano has the latest. good morning, rob. >> hi, ryan. as david alluded to, it's nice

now, but not going to last long. a lot of energy pouring into the pacific northwest developing into a very strong storm system for much of the country into monday. potentially a large storm. i think the main thing is the amount of wind over such a wide area. as we get in through wednesday, huge wind on the backside and front side of this thing. the east side, mostly mild, mostly in the form of rain. some snow on the backside. the winds will slow down air travel. no doubt about that. from chicago, st. louis and back through minneapolis and boston and new york as well. will it dump snow for a white christmas? chicago might have some. but the pink and purple areas, the northern tier in the mountains, that's the typical white christmas spots. the larger cities on the east coast, a green and brown christmas. we will talk more about that throughout the show. back to you. >> rob, you're trying to make this girl's dreams come true for a white christmas. thank you. and now to the fast-moving developments in the massive sony hack. president obama calling out the studio saying they should not have caved to the terrorist's demands and pulled the plug on that movie "the interview." >> yes, i think they made a mistake. if somebody is able to

intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don't like. >> strong words from the president. we are also hearing from the sony ceo overnight, defending his decision. hear from him in just a moment. but we gin with abc's chief justice correspondent pierre thomas in washington. and pierre, the north koreans are responding this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, paula. overnight north korean officials denied hacking sony. calling the accusations absurd. but the fbi says flatly, they did it. the president was blunt. accusing north korea of the devastating cyber attack against sony pictures. >> they caused a lot of damage. we will respond. we will respond proportionally and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. >> reporter: the extraordinary response coming after fbi investigators pieced together a trail of clues. including ip addresses apparently linked to pyongyang. lines of computer code used by north korean hackers in the

past. and striking similarities between this attack and a series of devastating cyber assaults targeting south korean banks and cell phones last year. the fbi said north korea intended to inflict significant harm on a u.s. business and suppress the right of american citizens to express themselves. the scope stunning. with the fbi saying the assault renders thousands of sony computers inoperable. >> we need to do more. and part of that means using every tool in the government arsenal to increase the costs of that type of behavior until it stops. >> hello, north korea. >> reporter: the unprecedented attack all because the north koreans were angry about a movie depicting the assassination of their leader. >> take him out. >> reporter: friday the hackers took a victory lap, sending sony a new message. praising the country's very wise decision to halt the movie's showing, but threatening mayhem if the film is ever released, distributed or leaked in any form.

whatever option the u.s. chooses, the north koreans are likely to respond. this confrontation feels far from over. ryan. >> sure does. thank you so much. and sony is in damage control mode. their ceo speaking out, defending the media giant's decision to pull "the interview" from theaters after the hackers threatened violence. and tom llamas is here with that side of the story. >> reporter: good morning. as we mentioned earlier, president obama now involved in the sony hack scandal, saying there will be repercussions. but criticizing sony for backing down. this as sony's ceo said their hands were tied, and they intend to distribute the film in some form. >> you want us to kill the leader of north korea? >> yes. >> what? >> reporter: in a stunning new development, sony's ceo says they will release "the interview", just not in theaters. sony, in the middle of a crippling and humiliating cyber attack has come under fire from hollywood actors and even president obama who says the film studio caved to the hackers' demands to not release

the film. >> we have not caved. we have not given in. we have persevered. we have not backed down. >> reporter: the comments made in an interview with cnn's fareed zakaria followed a blunt assessment by the president in a nationally-televised news conference. >> yes, i think they made a mistake. >> referee: president obama saying sony should have never surrendered its freedom of speech rights. >> i would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks. >> reporter: but sony says the president and other critics are all wrong. and george clooney, himself a victim of the attack, telling deadline.com that no studio head would join him in standing up for sony. >> i think george was seeing the big picture here. this isn't going to be just one. this is going to be all. this is not only the first amendment rights we savor so much, but also an industry. and look what's happened with hollywood not getting behind

that idea. >> reporter: and the president said that the u.s. will respond to the north korean attack, but did not offer details. and sources tell abc news the inspiration for "scandal," olivia pope's judy smith, is now advising sony on how to deal with the problem. >> some heavy hitters on this. how could sony release the film at this point? >> they could release it through on demand service. but at this point no vod service has contacted them. but they are going to release the film in some form. >> certainly has created quite a bit of intrigue with the movie. >> absolutely. >> and tracking the other story this is morning, this guy, ron claiborne. good morning, everyone. st. louis, missouri, the prosecutor who presented the michael brown case to a grand jury is breaking his silence. and coming under fire for what he said in a radio interview. bob mcculloch admits that he put witnesses before the grand jury that he knew were lying. in one case, someone who wasn't there. >> i thought it was much more important to present anybody and everybody.

and some that, yes, were clearly not telling the truth. no question about it. >> you don't do that normally. that was something you did differently because of this case. >> correct. >> mccullough said he will not pursue any perjury charges against any of the witnesses who he said lied. a missouri lawmaker is calling for a state investigation, saying that mccullough, quote, manipulated the grand jury into the decision not to charge the police officer who fatally shot michael brown. and now to a serious health alert. the cdc officials are warning everyone to stay away from all pre-packaged caramel apples. the apples have been linked to four deaths and more than two dozen illnesses in ten states. it started just before halloween. that's when they are most popular. no word on which brands are involved. but cdc officials say there's no reason to stop eating plain apples or avoid other caramel products. and the first family is in hawaii where they will spend the rest of this year during the obama's 16-day winter vacation. sounds nice. the president is expected to

spend plenty of time soaking up the sun, snorkeling and biking with his daughters. and in rome, the vatican is all decked out and ready for christmas. notes ♪ ♪ hundreds of people packed st. peter's square to watch the lighting of the vatican christmas tree. strung with new energy-saving l.e.d. lights. the square also features a huge nativity scene. and back here at home, terrifying moments for more than a dozen school kids in a bus in new york city. it crashed into a building after a chain reaction collision. four people were hospitalized, none of the kids were injured. and finally an arizona woman who set up a puppy cam to snoop on her dogs wound up calling 911 instead. listen. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> hi. there's someone in my house. my dogs are there. he's feeding my dogs dog treats. >> oh, no. >> it's creepy and cute too.

the suspected burglar, you see hiim there, got into her home and was giving milk bone treats to the dogs to keep them occupied. he didn't get far, police surrounded the home, and nabbed the suspect. these guard dogs, need more training. >> yeah. >> guard dogs. >> treats, gets them every time. >> every time. >> mine would have driven a harder bargain there. just so you know. >> you think so? >> at least two milk bones. >> my two would have gone in full attack mode. >> you're saying that now, sara. you like to think that about your babies. >> that's what i'm saying. >> we'll remember that. >> the chihuahua, the epitome of guard dogs. thank you, ron. for holiday shoppers, the clock is ticking louder every hour. they will be jamming malls today and this saturday, which is called super saturday before christmas. it is expected to take the top spot as the busiest shopping day of the year. gloria riviera is out with the early bargain hunters in silver spring, maryland. you are a brave woman. good morning to you. >> referee: good morning, paula. there is good news and not so good news. the good news is if you're watching this in your pjs with

your cup of coffee, and you have gifts to buy, you can still get great deals. the bad news is i'm at a kohl's, it opened at 6:00 and there are already shoppers here. so you better get moving. bigger than black friday. stronger than cyber monday. could today be the biggest shopping day of the year? it's called super saturday, and experts anticipate americans will shell out roughly $10 billion shopping for those last-minute holiday deals today. that's a billion more than black friday's haul. >> we're predicting a super saturday that's even bigger than cyber monday or black friday because the discounts are so big that a lot of people are going to come out. >> reporter: five days before christmas and right in the middle of hanukkah, super saturday is the perfect storm for procrastinators. >> i have to get something for my mom and brother. >> i have shopped as late as 10:00 on christmas eve. so i'm doing well this year.

>> always last minute shopping. i'm the last minute queen. you find a lot of great deals as the time gets closer to christmas. >> reporter: when it comes to deep discounts, super saturday is the new black friday for retailers. >> they're looking at all of the merchandise that they have, and they're saying i need to sell this today. >> reporter: this 50-inch l.e.d. tv is $200 off at best buy. old navy is offering up to 75% off the entire store. and barbie dolls are buy one, get one half off at toys 'r us. all those put it off until the last minute shoppers might just win first place when it comes to savings. this kohl's where i am, it opened at 6:00. it's going to stay open for 100 hours right up until the end of christmas eve. it's not the only store doing that kind of marathon sprint to the finish. if you get to christmas morning and you still don't have your gifts, i don't know what to tell you. cross your fingers and hope for christmas magic. ryan.

>> while you're there, i need some socks. what else do you need? >> i'm done. >> okay. >> just some gift cards. we'll be fine. >> thanks, appreciate it. all right, taking a turn now to the caught on surveillance camera, bold smash and grab robberies. thieves busting up jewelry stores in daring daytime heists. these types of robberies are happening a lot before the holidays. mara schiavocampo has the incredible video. >> reporter: shoppers aren't the only ones hitting up jewelry stores this holiday season. diamond-lined cases also attracting the boldest of burglars. in florida, this masked gunman terrorizing jeweler sam cohen. >> the guy meant business. didn't hesitate for a second. >> reporter: holding him at gunpoint before nabbing $400,000 worth of diamonds and gold in five minutes. >> i said i'm going to cooperate, not going to do anything. >> reporter: authorities call them smash and grab thieves. they are targeting stores all over the country. here you see two masked men

ransack a shop in brooklyn. one pointing a gun at employees while the other uses a hammer to shatter display cases. stuffing his bag with $250,000 in luxury loot. a possible female accomplice wanted for questioning. watch as she holds the door open, allowing these gunman to march right into the locked door. a trio of thieves robbed this raleigh, north carolina, jewelry store in broad daylight. >> they had rolexes. >> reporter: the burglars were in and out in ten minutes. >> people were on the ground. they were pushing people out of the way. it was insane. >> reporter: but some holiday heists are escalating the violent tactic. a rash of assaults in chicago police are calling crash and grabs. crooks using cars to plow through a dozen store fronts. the team of bandits smashing windows, piling in one after another to snatch up tens of thousands in merchandise. gone in just 90 seconds. leaving behind little more than a trail of destruction. now officials say the most important thing for store

owners, high-quality surveillance cameras at eye level to identify those brazen thieves. >> this is clearly something they don't know how to tackle or handle this morning. thank you to you. >> keeps happening. and next, we have a happy ending to a frightening story. an infant reunited with his mother after she left him in a running car at a gas station. >> that's right. and when she went in to pay, the car was stolen with her baby on board. an amber alert led a couple of eagle-eyed women to save the day. and sara haines has the story. a lucky story. >> a very lucky story with a great ending. we have all been told if you see something, say something. this is a perfect example of how two quick-thinking women saved the day by doing just that. this morning little henry flores is safely with his mother. after someone steals the car he was in from this gas station. a surveillance camera at a florence, kentucky, sunoco station shows it all. when the mother and her

2-year-old get out of their car to pay, 20 day old henry is fast asleep in his car seat. moments later, watch the man on the left. he jumps in the 2001 volkswagen and takes off. >> there's a young woman, a hispanic here, and she said her car was just stolen and her baby is in the car. >> reporter: 20 minutes later and nine miles away, you can see the suspect drives up to another gas station, parks the car and gets out. blocking his face with a hoodie as he abandons the vehicle. the newborn wearing only a onesie and gray pants in the backseat. according to reports, sat for nearly three hours. and two different women who saw the amber alert on their phones spotted the stolen passat. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> can someone get someone out to the sunoco in fort mitchell, they found the baby in the car. >> is the baby okay? >> yeah, he's sleeping. >> he was sleeping under the covers. the car was still warm. >> reporter: that car undergoing dna tests as police try to track down the suspect who's still on the run.

>> i'm glad we were able to find the baby. >> now the thief could face charges of theft, kidnapping and endangering a child. but i was speaking with parents, and even as a non-parent, why would you leave your kid? but a lot of people say that an infant, a toddler -- >> if the baby's sleeping, don't disrupt them. exactly. can happen in the blink of an eye. just lock your doors if you're going to do that. thank you very much, sara. glad it had a happy ending. and a happy ending for a lot of folks, right, rob marciano, for christmas? we're talking about skiing and white christmas. >> it's okay to dump your kid at the ski school. take care of them. ski all you want. all the vertical you want. speaking of vertical, john deneufville will break a guinness world record for the amount of vertical feet skied in a year, 4.1 million feet. that will happen in jackson hole today. that's like skiing from the moon to earth 17 times. been a fun year. he raised $125,000 to keep our winters going. fight against climate change. all right. snow coming in and rain across the pacific northwest.

rain, 5 inches of mountain snow. could see a foot. a great four or five days for most of the inner mountain west as far as snowfall is concerned. but a lot of rain today from eureka north. to seattle. and some of the oregon coastal mountains, over 5 inches of rain. those rivers are going to swell. and the ground is saturated. a little bit of flooding. all right. the next few days through christmas week. above the white line as this storm traverses the northern tier. that's where you'll see mostly in the form of snow. south of that, mostly in the form of rain. and christmas eve, a heavy rainfall across the northeast and wind. that's going to slow down travel. drying out across the south today. 51 expected in dallas.

>> enough about the white christmas already. >> let it go. >> okay, scrooge. >> the places that usually see a white christmas will have it, those that don't won't. >> thank you, ebenezer. appreciate that. and coming up on "gma." an abc news exclusive, the tape. never before seen footage of what happened after ray rice punched out his fiancee. why were they kissing in handcuffs? plus grammy winner ashanti comes face to face with her stalker. what it was like for her to be cross-examined by him in court. and getting the elf off the shelf. going where no elf has gone before. all up ahead in "pop news." that's a tease. ever gone before in "pop news." that's the tease. kids today. it's all gadgets and internets.

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and coming up on "gma," the abc news exclusive. >> that's right. the parts of the ray rice tapes you didn't see. what happened after they stepped on to that elevator? >> see you in a bit. what happened after they stepped on to that elevator? >> see you in a bit. ♪ you'll connect withnte, your doctor any time, anywhere. another way care and coverage together makes life easier. ♪ become a member of kaiser permanente.

because together, we thrive. ♪

okay buddy, what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... but apple cinnamon is my favorite too... and fruity... oh yeah, and frosted! okay, but...what's you're most favorite of all? hmm... the kind i have with you. me too.

♪ oh, that's what we call holiday spirit. it's at this home. and what a display. the virginia family uses 178,000 lights. guess how many inflatables, sara? >> about ten? >> 34. >> 34. right there. come on. >> 50 strobe lights. three snow machines and they have a fog machine. >> the prompter -- >> i can't read, you can't read. >> what's great about this video, it's all shot with a drone. one of the most popular gift this is season. a drone. >> can you imagine that chevy chase moment where they're like, plug it in. no, plug it in. >> we have 34 blowups. plug it in. also ahead, ashanti, opening up about her bizarre encounter

with her stalker when he was allowed to cross-examine her in the courtroom. can you believe that? >> strange twist there. an abc news exclusive. let's talk about this. ray rice, the domestic abuse scandal. the images of his hitting his then-fiance in the elevator. it was a suspension from the nfl that was later overturned. >> but what about the moments you didn't see? what happened afterward. how they ended up in handcuffs and even managed to share a kiss. ron is back with more. >> abc news had to get this 45-minute video released by going to court. what it shows, it shows what happened after ray rice ko'd his then-girlfriend. emotional moments. couple in handcuffs and the unlikely twist to the story. it's the video ray rice did not want the public to see. casino surveillance cameras capturing the emotional aftermath of the now infamous elevator altercation, in which he struck his then-fiance, now wife, janay.

just minutes after the knockout punch, after janay has regained consciousness, she and rice questioned by police and casikc security. >> i made a huge mistake and want to own it. >> reporter: rice appears agitated. and janay extends an arm to keep him away. for several minutes, she talks to a police officer. someone brings her a chair and she sits. and suddenly overcome with emotion, she raises her hands to her face and appears to sob. this video was obtained exclusively by abc news after a legal battle with rice's lawyers who wanted to prevent its release.2sg >> ray rice is trying to catch on with another nfl team.ú the last thing ray rice wants is for this story to bubble back up to the surface again. and it has. >> reporter: at one point, rice is seen, his arms pinned behind him by handcuffs, seated in the background. as janay talks to investigators. finally they are taken away. both now in handcuffs. they enter what appeared to be the same elevator they had battled less than an hour

earlier. and something astonishing happens. they kiss. >> this is proof of what the rices have been telling us, they love each other. >> reporter: taken outside, they are placed in separate police cars to be driven away for booking. both charged with assault. >> i do deeply regret the role that i played in that incident that night. >> janay's charges were dropped, and ray rice pleaded not guilty and sent to pre-trial intervention. with the regular football season almost over, it's unlikely any team will sign ray rice as he was hope. but he's pressing ahead with his attempt to rehabilitate his image. appearing at a charity event for children. talking about what happened and calling it a horrible mistake and asking for a second chance. ryan, i have to ask you, likelihood coming back next year? >> it's tough. he's got to show that his image is different. never know. new season, new beginning. possibly. >> just two weeks left, he is eyeing next season. >> right. >> not to mention fantasy football season. which has cost many of us who

drafted adrian peterson. that was not a good move. >> me too. misery. >> all right. go to miami, we have a beautiful live shot. 63 degrees. oh, yeah. that is just gorgeous. dexter, where are you hiding those bodies? that is beautiful stuff. temperatures are going to be rising today. a little bit of rainfall in the forecast for much of the southeast. raining heavily from houston to new orleans. they will begin to dry out. temperatures in miami, 78 degrees. 53 degrees, cooler ahead of the front. 60 degrees in new orleans. you could use the rain in new orleans. you'll take it. winter weather advisories in the northern tier. a little bit of light snow there. freezing mark in minneapolis, 34 in chicago. temperatures at or maybe slightly below average across the northeastern third of the country and rain and snow in the pacific northwest. pile up the snow. take it. and winds with this, 60 miles an hour wind. and snow and fluffy through the christmas holiday. 63 degrees for the high temperature in los angeles. 51 degrees in dallas, and 46 for the high temperature today in nashville. that's a quick check on the

>> this weather report brought to you by mcdonald's. i love the new egg white delight. i don't know if you have had that. >> we're still talking about -- >> keep the sponsors happy. and it's true. >> i'm still stuck on dexter. >> "dexter" is a popular series that ended on showtime about a serial killer. >> you can drop a show reference like that. >> and a morbid one. it's great. >> great for the morning. ron, could you change the subject, tracking developing headlines. we have some news here. good morning, everyone. we begin with breaking news in the sony cyber attack. north korean denied hacking sony, calling the accusations

absurd. sony officials said they did not cave in after president obama said it was a mistake by the film studio to pull the movie in theaters. and procrastinators, i'm one of them, hitting the stores in record numbers. imagine that. this super saturday, the biggest shopping day of the year. experts predicting that americans will shell out $10 billion today, $1 billion more than black friday. and a consumer alert as you shop today. you can add staples to the growing list of retailers hit by cyber attacks. the office retailer says that nearly 1.2 million customer payment cards may have been exposed during a security breach that happened earlier this year. and finally, who can resist this face? looks sort of like a monster. >> i can. i think i can. >> but also kind of irresistible. the san diego zoo's latest addition, a baby girl sloth. born in july, but in sloth fashion, a little slow making her debut. no word on the sloth's name. any ideas? >> is she a blond?

>> we could call her -- >> you like the little -- >> sara the sloth, for example. >> is that hair or just a blanket? >> did you hear what he just said? >> she's a sloth. a new breed of sloth. >> i said sara the sloth. an alliterative, attractive name. >> wow. >> you're doing that because the sloth is so cute. and you think i'm cute. >> and blunt. >> yeah. >> adorable. >> oh, sara. >> a little like a monster. >> it's a stretch. >> it's a big stretch. we had to stretch for that compliment. stretching for the compliment. >> it was in there somewhere. >> i'll take it. and an abc news exclusive, r and b singer ashanti on being cross-examined by her convicted stalker in court and why she may have to do it all over again. and move over amal, who george clooney is kissing now. and guess what, it's not me. up ahead in "pop news." >> sloth. ♪with that first fall of snow. ♪it's time for us to go ♪spread some fa la la la la. ♪fa la la la la. ♪we can laugh and celebrate

♪fa la la la la. ♪we're making memories today♪ ♪fa la la la la. ♪come on everybody say... ♪fa la la la. oh, whatd'ya get, dude? whatd'ya get? what did you get? i'm stuck - what'd he get private? - what'd he get? woo hoo! whatd'ya get? what is it? what is it? what is it? oh c'mon mate, open it already! i can't wait! oooooooooh! dude.

is a really big deal.u with aches, fever and chills- there's no such thing as a little flu. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. and call your doctor right away. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. ask your doctor about tamiflu and attack the flu virus at its source.

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welcome back, everyone. and now to an abc news exclusive. grammy winning singer ashanti speaking about the uncomfortable and tense moments in court this week. coming face to face with her stalker. >> the man already convicted once of harassing her, acting as his own attorney.

and in a bizarre twist, got to cross-examine the story. and linzie janis is here with the story. and a surprise development. >> reporter: good morning. in 2009 devar hurd admitted to inundating ashanti's mother with x-rated photos and messages meant for her daughter. but this took a strange turn, the judge allowing hurd to represent himself. this morning grammy winning singer ashanti talking exclusively to abc news about what it was like to be cross-examined by her stalker in court. >> it was a horrible feeling to actually see him, you know, for the first time like face to face. i can't believe this is happening right now. >> reporter: 36-year-old devar hurd spent two years in prison for stalking the r&b star and her family back in 2009. now he's accused of doing it again. but this time acting as his own lawyer. giving him the opportunity to question the object of his obsessions on the witness stand. >> his demeanor was very, like,

arrogant and -- what's up? >> reporter: he was acting like he knows you. >> exactly. >> there would be no other reason and no other way for him to see ashanti other than that to cross-examine here. >> reporter: prosecutors say he violated decade-long restraining orders by sending more than a hundred sexually explicit photos to her twitter account after he got out of prison. even approaching the singer's center and posing for this photo, not knowing who he was. >> when it comes to my family and my sister, all bets are off. when i saw that, i was just like -- i was infuriated. >> reporter: prosecutors playing a recording of a phone call hurd made from jail. >> but as far as me and her, we put it past us. >> reporter: in court, maintaining his innocence, arguing his tweets were con s

conscience shul because ashanti did not block him. she said it was needed for evidence. his court-appointed adviser calling the charges extreme. >> this conduct does not rise to the level of following her or going places where she's been. >> reporter: that's not good enough for ashanti. >> that's the scariest part. you don't know what he's capable of. >> some frustrating news on thursday for ashanti and her family. the judge declared a mistrial after a juror called in sick. they are going to have to relive this all over again as early as next month. this guy faces four years in prison. >> oh, my goodness. >> i don't know how you would cope with that, having to hear him from the stand face to face. >> embarrassing and bizarre. they want it to be over. >> disconcerting to say the least. thank you. and coming up on "good morning america," making an impression. the actress delivering a delicious mashup of celebrities singing holiday songs. you just have to see. and bringing the twist, is the

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♪ we got our -- >> all right. i love that. time now for "pop news." >> settle down, boys. i don't do that for your newscast. >> sara, you're like a little gift this morning. with the bow. >> i feel like i'm a gift to the world, so i wrapped myself just for you. >> unwrap it, let's do this. just when you thought "down t "downton abbey" couldn't get any better, enter george clooney. his long- awaited role has been

revealed. he played the role of the george oceans gravity, of hollywood, who appears as lady cora's husband in a dream sequence. >> husband? what on earth does she see in him. >> everything. >> i'm busy. >> who's that? >> she hasn't let me kiss her like that since -- actually, she's never let me kiss her like that. >> it's all different with george clooney. and he does what he does best, playing the heartthrob. even causing the dowager counts, played by maggie smith, to go weak at the knees. raised lots of money for charity. >> there she goes. she's a tough cookie. >> she is. >> just to see her roll off the couch is worth watching that. >> what don't you see in george so clooney? that is the question. >> he is the dream sequence. >> sorry -- i digress. as i do. more holiday cheer with a viral video of absolutely perfect impressions of stars singing christmas karls.

this is the extremely talented actress, singer and impressionist, kristina bianco. we have had her on her before. she does everyone from celine dion to kristen chenoweth. dote don we now our gay apparel ♪ ♪ tis the ancient yuletide carol ♪ ♪ fa la la la la la >> isn't that how you sing? >> no, that's how dan harris sings. see the dogs barking. like her -- >> i'm not much of a singer, so i thought i might read you a poem first. >> now the costumes, the gestures. she totally nails it. i started video and couldn't stop watching. she even does barbara walters. it's impressive. and a mom from san francisco is going the extra mile this christmas. teaming up with some of santa's helpers to stage sop seriously elaborate setups for her children's we feel on a shelf. not only does the elf keep an

eye on who's been naughty or nice, but teaches the kids about music, history and pop culture. with recreations of the beatles' abbey road album cover, a scene from finding nemo, and the a.l.s. ice bucket challenge. this is impressive. and another woman raising the bar upped the office decoration game to a level few of us will reach. transforming her cubicle into a winter wonderland. angela westfield's log cabin workstation has take snow, lights, ornaments, a tree. it's a christmas village in a cubicle. she and her husband love diy projects. it took about 18 hours to build this masterpiece for an office contest. hello, i hope the prizes were big. >> yeah, she won. >> it better be time. haven't announced it yet. >> sara's going to build that in four seconds? totally. >> diy. >> that's a really good thing. >> that's a really good thing. our dream ch together there is nothing we can't be.

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wow. >> again, a big thanks to this guy, ryan smith, for filling in for dan. and congratulations, dan. >> right. new papa. >> i think he has a diaper or two to change. >> get on it. now. >> aw. good morning to you. i'm chris nguyen. protests for the keynote address being delivered by talk show host bill maher. he drew a fire early this year for making statements linking islam to violence and intolerance. a petition on change.org to

cancel his appearance has collected nearly 6,000 signatures. critics object to what they call his anti-muslim statements. today's protests get under way at 2:00. happening today, recall memorial church in san francisco will continue the spirit of giving with its annual toy giveaway. the church will hand out nearly 10,000 new toys to children in need this season. thousands of toys have already been collected, the public is still encouraged to drop off new, unwrapped toys. today's giveaway gets under way at 9:00 at glide memorial. getting a check now, the accuweather forecast, send it over to lisa argen. see how foggy it is hyped you. we have a lot of fog in the area and rain that has been confined to the north bay for the most part. here is sea ranch in marin county. showers along the coast. a little further south, half moon bay, yeah, you could see a

few showers here or there. we're keeping them in the forecast today but the fog is definitely more of an issue in our east bay valleys, a half mile visibility from concord and just a mile and a half to two miles from santa rosa, novato, napa and fair field. with the fog, the calm winds and slight chance of a shower, it's certainly a gloomy start out there. plenty of 50s. a winter weather advisory is being extended until 10:00. so today you can expect numbers in the upper 50s to low 60s with a lingering shower. a local deputy accused of beating a man in a hospital waiting room. the alleged steps he took to cover up his tracks. plus, a good saturday for procrastinator procrastinators.

good morning to you on this saturday, december 20. glad to have you with us. i'm chris nguyen. lisa argen is tracking live doppler 7 hd. most of you are dealing with fog. if you are far north up to sea ranch and clover dale, light mist and drizzle from a little system offshore. also offshore along the coast around half moon bay, some light showers, but it's the fog with visibility at less than a half mile in