make news in america this morning -- officers as a nated. a vigil held overnight for two members of the nypd while sitting in their car. the missed warning signs. travel concerns. millions prepare to hit the road. a storm taking shape, possibly disrupting holiday plans. strong winds, heavy rains, and snow for some. a flifr saving a choking child. store surveillance video and the officer's body cameras capturing the life-saving action. taking flight with help from helium, a lawn chair, and a shotgun.

and good monday morning to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. >> and i'm tai hernandez. we begin with the senseless ambush that took the lives of two police officers. >> people gathered overnight bringing candles and flowers to the spot where the officers were gunned down as they sat many their patrol car. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: good morning to you and tai. we're learning more this morning about the 28-year-old who killed two new york city police officers. he left troubling messages on social media. including the hashtag shoot the police. ♪ make this world a better

place ♪ >> reporter: a candle light vigil for two flifrs, rafael ramos and wenjial liu. >> i think the spt the ultimate healer. the one who brings people together. >> reporter: president obama, while on vacation, asking people to remember the officers. >> shots fired. >> shots fired. >> reporter: the killings coming at a time when police and protesters have clashed in nationwide demonstrations against police brutality. >> we need to show solidarity. hopefully, this will bring us together. >> they lost their hero. and it's -- for no reason, you know. and they say to me, why? there's no answer. >> reporter: officer ramos has two children. officer liu just got married two months ago. police say their killer,

ismaaiyl brinsley, later shot and killed himself. he posted on instagram, i'm putting wings on pigs today. they take one of ours, let's take two of theirs. brinsley had a long rap sheet dating back years. his family said that he had a history of mental illness and he tried to kill himself last year. tai and t.j., back to you. >> elizabeth hur, live this morning. thank you. >> we're learning more about the man who shot and killed them. >> he shot his ex-girlfriend in maryland before heading to new york. he had a long criminal history that included at least 19 arrests. you see some of his mug shots here. he served two years in prison for gun possession. meanwhile, another police officer's murder under investigation. >> the victim there, charles kondak, a 17-year veteran of the

tarpon springs police department. he served five years with the nypd before moving to florida. it does not appear to be related to the new york city shooting. statistics out showing this morning the number of police officers killed on the job sup this year. >> the total number of deaths rose to 23%. the firearm related deaths are up 58%. turning to the weather now. high winds overnight causing problems in southern california. >> gusts were clocked as high as 87 miles an hour, taking out trees like this one here, it landed on a car. there's a winter storm warning for the colorado mountains today. a massive snowfall is expected creating a high danger of avalanches. >> the snow could come down as fast as 2 to 3 inches an hour. it will be great skiing weather if the skiers can get to the

slopes. today is the first full day of winter. the question on people's minds is how to get to destinations in christmas. the snow in colorado will bm major storm in the east on christmas eve. >> we get the latest from steph davis from accuweather. >> thank you, t.j. and tai. accumulating snowfall and travel delays across the dakotas and minnesota. if you're krafling on christmas eve, be careful. two storm systems will combine. mostly a rain event along the i-95 corridor. gusty winds will slow things down at the major airports. cooler air filtering in brings air across the plains and north central. christmas day, the storm will continue to lift off to the north. rain lingering in new england. back behind the storm, expect a blustery day for much of the

northeast. t.j. and tai, back to you. a close call for football fans in tampa after yesterday's game. a lightning strike hit a stadium parking lot. 11 people were injured, 7 taken to the hospital by ambulances. no one was directly hit. one man was knocked unconscious by the force of it. >> they were all on the ground. people put raincoats and jackets over them so they didn't go into shock. >> that was terry's suv hit by the bolt. she and her husband were about 100 yards away. repairs will delay their trip back to wisconsin. warning signals this morning. a warning of strikes against the white house, pentagon, and the whole u.s. mainland following the cyberattack. the administration is reviewing on whether to put north korea back on its list of

state-sponsored terrorism. meanwhile, sony is still trying to figure out how to get the movie released here in the u.s. divers found shane montgomery's keys in a nearby river a ever a 4 1/2-hour search yesterday. he vanished thanksgiving morning. the leading theory is he walked into a parking lot along the river and somehow ended up in the water. boxing legend muhammad ali is in a hospital in louisville suffering from pneumonia. his daughter, leila, tweeted out thanks to people for their prayers. still ahead, the 911 calls just in after witnesses spotted a plane colliding with a flock of birds. also new this morning, a bear attacks a teenager next to a supermarket. how a young victim's dog may have saved her life. and running players over. for 79 yards. he did it again.

we are going beast mode and you will be talking about this young fella today.

welcome back. it's crunch time for u.p.s. the shipping giant expects to deliver 34 million packages today. more than any other in its history. u.p.s. spent about there are 500 million to upgrade avoid what happened last year. gas prices down every day for three months. the national average this morning is $2.39 gallon.

that's 85 crepts better than this time last year. gasoline is below $3 a gallon in every state. missouri has the lowest prices with gas in kansas city below $2. beer sales are tapping out. sales of the seven major american brands declined by more than 20% in the past five years. the recession and the popularity among craft beers and imports are the main reasons. it's getting to be a hobbit at the box office. the next installment of the movie had $52.6 million in sales. more than three times "night at the museum." "annie" was third. facebook's popularity is on the decline with an important group. teenagers. they view it as lest trust worthy and less fun than other sites. meme, the popularity of instagram and twitter is up.

the same survey noted a similar dip last year. when we come back, caught on camera. a choking child and the officer who came to the rescue with no time to spare. plus, air-lifted on a lawn chair with balloons. the mile-high stunt you've got to see. [martha and mildred are good to. go. here's your invoice, ladies. a few stops later, and it looks like big ollie is on the mend. it might not seem that glamorous having an old pickup

truck for an office... or filling your days looking down the south end of a heifer, but...i wouldn't have it any other way. look at that, i had my best month ever. and earned a shiny new office upgrade. i run on quickbooks. that's how i own it. [ explosions ]

well, now somebody's gotta clean up this mess. that is what used to be the west side of the texas a&m university football stadium. this is part of the $350 million redevelopment of kyle field. it was imploded yesterday thanks to a couple thousand pounds of explosives. they'll have a new stadium in place next september. a look at the morning road conditions. wet in the entire eastern half of the country. slippery in the upper plains and midwest. if you're flying, airport delays possible in new orleans, minneapolis, chicago, and kansas city. a florida teen recovering from a brutal bear attack. >> lee reeder, a 15-year-old, was walking her dog when she came face to face with a black bear. the bear pounced on her, leaving her with bite marks, claw marx, and lacerations all over her face and body. the bear tried to drag her away. it ran off when her dog starting

barking and lunged at it. the reward is doubled in the shooting of a texas weatherman. police near waco released this sketch of someone they would like to talk to in the shooting of patrick crawford. he's recovering in the hospital. he exchanged words with the suspect before shots were fired. we're learning this morning just how terrifying a bird strike incident earlier in month was for passengers and those on the ground. officials have released 911 calls from the baltimore area. you can hear the pan nick their voices at the southwest airlines flight from san antonio struggled to land. >> an airplane just went over toward my house heading toward gibson island. she's going down. on fire. >> one of the motors was completely on fire. it sounded like fireworks going off. >> aboard the plane, one of the passengers remembered thinking that southwest has never had an accident and he's going to be a victim of its first. the plane did land safely.

the passengers gave the crew a big round of applause. dramatic moments on a -- as a camera, excuse me, captured as nevada police officer safes the life of a child choking on a piece of candy. frantic parents rushed their 3-year-old son into the grocery store moments after calling 911. officer quinn averett responds. you can see him, he xwrabs the boy, cleared the jawbreaker candy from his airway in just a few seconds, saving his life. florida state university quarterback jameis winston is free to play football team's playoff game after he was cleared of charges in a code of conduct hearing. the judge says there's not enough evidence to find him guilty of any violation. the woman accusing him can appeal the ruling within five days. meanwhile, lindsey vonn was

racing in the french alps over the weekend. she went down, ending her chance to equal the record for women's pro circuit career victories. she's all right. she says her right knee is fine. the weekend not a total loss. the memphis grizzlies decided to spread cheer after the intern had his car stolen. the players chipped in and got him a brand-new car. brandon the intern. they rolled out the christmas surprise. his car was stolen. >> lookses like a nice car. nice to work for people that can do something like that for you. >> have that kind of pocket change. >> no starbucks gift card for brandon. the nfl playoff picture coming into focus. i'm john buccigross.

the seattle seahawks, the defending super bowl champions? they could return to the game this year. last night, an easy win over arizona. and this run by marshawn lynch had everyone talking. look at the power. and then, finishes it off with the breakaway speed and the leap, as well. his quarterback, russell wilson, can do everything. throw, run. here he is i'm not sure what i'm going to do. i'm going to stiff arm and i'm going to score. he threw for two touchdowns. seattle has never had a better offensive game in their franchise history in terms of total yards. tony romo and the cowboys. he passes troy aikman, the all-time passing leader in cowboys history. passing troy aikman. the cowboys win. a big game for the bengals and the broncos. the bengals can clinch a playoff

berth with a win. "monday night football" in warm cincinnati. next live "sportscenter" at 9:00 eastern on espn. now to a remarkable golfer from florida. he just made history. 103-year-old gus >> he hits the course three times a week. he got a hole in one. he said he's likely the oldest one to do that. beating the record of a year-old woman. we got "the pulse" coming your way. peddling positive pregnancy tests. how some women are heading to craigslist to lock in their man. plus, the best jenga play ever seen on video.

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time to check "the pulse." we is start with an upcoming tv series about o.j. simpson's murder trial. >> in that series, it's been announced that david schwimmer will play robert kardashian. >> the series is called american crime story, the people versus o.j. simpson. cuba gooding jr. will play o.j. no word who will play the other trial personalities including johnnie cochran and judge lance ito. this may be the most bizarre holiday gift or just twisted.

>> ads for positive pregnancy tests now on krasinglist. prices range from $15 to $50. >> police say selling them is illegal. they believe they could be used for blackmail, everyone though they're advertised as a great prank. buyer beware. is this real? >> might be the wildest successful move ever pulled off in je in rks ga. so, check it out. >> oh! >> oh! >> there you see. hey. maybe it's the real deal. but it's on the internet. everything on the internet is real, i'm told. >> some people say the blocks at the bottom may be glued. even if they are, it still is together. >> she's happy about it. we turn to another stunt now. a b.a.s.e. jumper raising his adrenaline to a whole nother

level. >> he wanted to feel the rush of being raised in the air 8,000 feet by being lifted by balloons. he took a shotgun and shot the balloons out one by one. [ rifle clicking ] [ gunshots ] >> okay, he then released the balloons all together. he went into a wild freefall in his lawn chair for just a bit. he then pulled the plug on his parachute. >> you mean his rockstar parachute? >> yes. this is all done. this was a >> we all float yourself up with heel youm balloons. you can. >> kids, don't try it.

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good morning to you. i am eric thomas with meteorologist mike nicco and leyla gulen on monday, december 22. this many days until christmas. this many days, okay? chris, welcome to the morning show. >> glad to be here. >> we welcome you to sleep deprivation. >> good morning, everyone, live doppler hd showing no rain with a lot drizzle yesterday especially early and right new we are watching fog especially around oakland down to hayward, quarter to half a mile. we have 1.75 in santa rosa. it is more than what is going on up there. as we look at fog over san

francisco, temperatures are two- or three-degrees of record highs this afternoon. we push the temperatures from the low-to-mid 60's at noon with increasing sunshine to mid-to-upper 60's and this evening, mid-to-upper 50's, although we should be in the 40's. i am counting on records falling. >> we have video of this from a knew minutes ago a rock slide north of the waldo tunnel north of the waldo tunnel southern along 101 we have a rock slide that took out a power light block one lane with no word how long it will

take to clean up. you will have to be careful along 101 through the north bay because it is wet. the west of the bay area, the west of the bay area, though, is running smooth. the joyful day before christmas happy for thousands of young people. matt? welcome to the toy store where parents can pick out the toys and books for their kids at the community service. they can pick out two toys and one book a child. there are 17,400 books and toys given away during the appointments but though need more help. the executive director at sake -- sacred heart community service. >> why the big need? >> people are