making news in america this morning, tragic end. isis giving proof that american hostage kayla mueller has died. the letter to her parents just revealed the failed rescue attempt and the questions that still remain about her death. we're live in washington. network shake-up. nbc making a major announcement about anchor brian williams following his recent admission of an exaggerated war story. cheating scandal. a controversy surrounding the team that captured the country's attention during the little league world series. and surprise announcement. jon stewart shocking his fans about his future with "the daily show," the show that changed the late night game. good morning on this

wednesday. i'm sara haines. >> and hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. thank you for being here but we have to start with details about the last american hostage held by isis and how she lived out her final days. >> the parents of kayla mueller saying they now have proof that their daughter is dead, and we're learning how she may have been an unwilling bride to an isis member. >> abc's bazi kanani live for us from washington with new reaction from the white house. bazi, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, t.j. good morning, sara. kayla mueller was the last known american being held hostage by isis. in her hometown of prescott, arizona, her family and friends are sharing their memories of her hoping she'll be remembered for her spunk, bravery and compassion. the grieving family of kayla mueller releasing new details of her 18 months in captivity as they now try to accept her death. >> kayla has touched the heart of the world. the world grieves with us. >> reporter: the 26-year-old from arizona captured by isis militants while working to help war refugees managed to smuggle

out a letter to her family "just the thought of you all," she wrote "sends me into a fit of tears." >> they tried to silence her. they locked her up. they kept us silent out of fear but now she's free. >> reporter: over the weekend her isis captors sent her family pictures of her body after claiming that she died in a jordanian air strike. u.s. officials deny the claim and blame isis for her death. sources involved in an attempt to rescue her tell abc news she was given to a senior isis leader as a kind of bride or reward. mueller wrote her family that she was not giving up. "i have a lot of fight left inside of me. i am not breaking down and i will not give in no matter how long it takes." president obama in an interview with buzzfeed said the u.s. did everything possible to save her except pay a ransom. >> it's as tough as anything that i do having a conversation with parents who understandably

want by any means necessary for their children to be safe. >> the three other americans held hostage by isis were all beheaded. mueller was never mentioned or shown in those brutal execution videos. officials say they don't know how or when she died. t.j., sara. >> all right. bazi kanani live for us in washington. thank you so much. and more breaking news on terror. a drastic move by the state department closing the u.s. embassy in yemen. conditions have grown more dangerous following the takeover of much of the country by shiite rebels. the state department evacuated embassy staff and also issued a travel warning to yemen and urged u.s. citizens currently living there to leave. we turn back here at home and a lot of reaction to a pair of major media shake-ups announced within minutes of each other. >> first nbc announcing that anchor brian williams is suspended without pay for six months. williams apologized nearly a week ago for falsely claiming that an army chopper he was riding on during the iraq invasion had come under fire. the president of nbc news

calling his claims, quote, wrong and inappropriate. and there may be more trouble ahead. he is still the subject of an internal investigation. >> and in the second stunner the announcement by that guy, jon stewart, telling his viewers his 16-year run as host of "the daily show" is coming to an end. stewart helped transform late night television using his fake newscast to mock politicians and us in the media and attracted millions of young manfans and became one of the most trusted men in america. he got a little emotional. more on that later in this half hour. winter weary new englanders are bracing for yet more snow. >> sorry, folks. no major new accumulation is expected, however, but there is a clipper system moving towards the northeast expected to dump a few more inches at least followed by a blast of bitter cold. check out the pictures, though. these say it all. >> the dog. >> in boston and the dog in boston. their still digging out from more than six feet of snow. cars, can't even see them there really.

ah, this is something -- it might look like this till spring. >> good luck pulling the cars out. but let's get on to the latest on today's forecast from accuweather justin povick. justin. >> sara, t.j., thanks. and good morning. a cold morning for much of the country especially in the north over the upper midwest and the great lakes, arctic air crashing the party wednesday and also thursday now into the northeast and, well, if you think that's cold, wait till you see what's coming up over the upcoming weekend. real feel temperatures over much of the great lakes and northeast well below zero with actual temperatures only into the teens and single digits. in fact, around chicago we might struggle to get above 5 degrees. now, if you're wanting warm you have to be in the southwest here on wednesday. offshore flow there you go temperatures in the 80s around l.a. and san diego with sunshine. sara and t.j., back to you. >> thank you, justin. today president obama is announcing a major milestone in the battle against ebola. he'll say that the majority of

american troops that had been sent to west africa to help fight the disease are heading home. he'll also meet at the white house with most of the american ebola survivors. testimony gets under way in texas today in the trial of the man charged with killing chris kyle, the former navy s.e.a.l. who inspired the blockbuster film "american sniper." kyle's widow, taya, is expected to be among the first to take the stand. her husband and his friend chad littlefield were shot two years ago while trying to help the defendant, former marine eddie routh, who is looking dramatically different these days from his days in service. routh's attorneys are pursuing the insanity defense. an ordained minister trying to perform a same-sex marriage in arizona is arrested. 44-year-old anne susan deprizio was arrested for refusing to leave the courthouse. it comes as most judges in the state refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples two days after a federal ruling

legalized it. a federal judge has set a hearing for tomorrow. well what a surprise for visitors to the white house. they were getting a first ever look at a newly refurbished room and they were greeted by, yep, the first lady, michelle obama and former first daughter, jenna bush hager. that newly refurbished room is the old family dining room. among the new decorations are a couple of works by the obama's favorite modern artists. >> that's a treat. any time you get jenna bush, i love her. still ahead, rethinking the risk. a major change likely coming to advice about cholesterol. >> and also breaking right now a sports anchor gunned down outside his home. the major development overnight in the search for a suspect. plus, a new cheating scandal unfolding in the sports world. this time allegations against a little league team that the entire country got behind.

shares of apple began trading with the company's market value in record territory. with its stocks advance the company became the first ever to be valued at more than $710 billion. that was at the close of trading yesterday. well that's nearly twice the value of the next biggest company, exxonmobil. the twitter account of another major american media company has been hacked. hackers claiming to be affiliated with isis managed to take control of "newsweek's" twitter account for 14 minutes and tweeted out warnings of more attacks and threats against the first family. authorities say the threats have low credibility. the hackers did not break into "newsweek's" mainframe. target has agreed to pay nearly 4 million to settle a

false advertising lawsuit. prosecutors in northern california claim the retailer misrepresented the weights of products and failed to ensure the accuracy of price scanners at the checkout. target has agreed to more frequent price and weight audits. >> it's target not tar-jay. the big airlines seem to be getting the message when it comes to avoiding long delays. new government numbers show only 30 domestic flights last year were stuck on the ground for more than three hours. a record low. domestic flight delays for longer than three hours are subject to hefty fines. more than $27,000 per passenger. just in time for lent carl jr.'s and hardy's out with a beer battered fish sandwich. wouldn't be i commercial without a model. the new red hook beer battered fish sandwich is being rolled out at both. the chains point thought no alcohol remaining in the sandwich so anyone can order it. >> what is she selling again?

>> it's lost on me. great message. when we come back we'll turn to an ivy league student under arrest. accused of shooting his ceo father. new details on that investigation. plus improve your health in just 30 minutes. the simple step to reverse the effects of poor sleep. our "name your price" tool helps -- oh, jamie you got a little something on the back of your shoe there. a price tag! danger! price tag alert! oh. hey, guys. price tag alert! is this normal? well, progressive is a price tag free zone. we let you tell us what you want to pay and we help you find options to fit your budget. where are they taking him? i don't know. this seems excessive! decontamination in progress. i don't want to tell you guys your job, but... policies without the price tags. now, that's progressive. mom usually throws a gogurt in there. well mom's not here today so we're doing things dad's way. which means i get... two. (singing) snack time and lunch.

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i want this time to be my last time. that's why i choose nicoderm cq. you're looking at a time-lapsed video of a parking lot in duluth minnesota getting a whopping 3.4 inches of snow yesterday. that's the most snow the city has seen in a single day for most of the winter. so far the city is nearly 22 inches of snow below average. all of their snow apparently has been shipped on over to boston. >> giving a look at morning road conditions another clipper system making roads slippery and a band of rain is making roads wet from southern colorado down into texas. turn now to a man accused of

shooting a tv sports anchor in san diego. he's under arrest this morning. >> kyle kraska was backing out of his driveway when a gunman shot out the rear window of his mercedes. he was hit several times in the leg and stomach but is expected to survive. a suspect identified as mike montana has surrendered after a standoff with police but so far no word of a motive. also a cornell university sophomore is in jail this morning charged with shooting his father. shooting and killing him. police had reportedly been called to the house several times in the past over domestic disputes. neighbors expressed shock over the murder describing the young man as polite well mannered and overall he was a good kid. well today marks three years since the death of whitney houston and this morning her daughter remains on life support at an atlanta hospital. bobbi kristina's father singer bobby brown thanked fans for their prayers. 21-year-old was found unresponsive in a bathtub more than a week ago in a scene eerily similar to her mother's

death. police have confirmed that a criminal investigation is under way. and topping our health headlines this morning, the government is making a major you-turn on dietary cholesterol after nearly 40 years of warnings of eggs cheese and red meat the nation's top nutrition advisory panel is dropping its caution against high cholesterol food and recognizing that the cholesterol we eat has virtually no effect on the cholesterol levels in our bodies. new research finds a little napping can go a long way towards reversing the effects of a sleepless night. that's going to help out around here. in a small study of 11 men researchers found even if the men got only two hours of sleep, naps helped rebalance their hormones. it's unclear though when the naps helped other medical problems caused by prolonged sleeplessness. >> other problems. i try to get the naps in. they help a little bit. they help me maintain. but a good study to hear. and cholesterol, great health news. >> just want bacon in and sleep.

turn to little league baseball officials hoping to resolve a controversy involving the chicago team that won last summer's u.s. championship. you remember the jackie robinson west team that won our hears from the south side of chicago. had a magical run and lost in the final game but they were the u.s. champs and that was history being made. little league is investigating allegations that the team may have recruited top players from chicago's suburbs. team officials have denied violating residency rules and say no player was recruited. hopefully we get that resolved and cheating not involved. >> i'm staying with sports. highlights from last night. >> who else to get those from but our guy at espn. >> welcome inside "sportscenter." i'm john buccigross. kentucky men's basketball remain un undefeated after surviving a tight one in baton rouge last night. pick it up 14.8 seconds. anthony davis of the new orleans or leans pelicans on hand to check out his alma mater.

lsu ball down by two. two to tie. three to win. ball knocked out of bounds but lsu gets one more chance that's keith hornsby. he would end up getting it. two to tie, three for the win. they'll go for the three. hornsby, almost banked it in. just a bit strong and kentucky remains undefeated. now, 24-0. they survive a tight one on the road in lsu. to the nba. mvp candidate james harden and woo, woo, woo, lays it up and in. back jump stepper for him and then again dagger. 40 points 12 rebound, 9 assist rockets win over phoenix. let's go to nashville, the hockey talk. tampa bay and nashville predators. james neal wins it. five hole river. keeps it along the ice. they got him from the pittsburgh penguins in the off-season.

his 18th goal of the year beats best in the east. for more check out a live "sportscenter" over on espn in the studio at 9:00 a.m. eastern. >> all right, bucci, thank you. up next in "the pulse," jon stewart signing off from "the daily show." we'll show you his on air announcement and look back at his first show. get your tickets, the powerball jackpot approaching half a billion dollars. what robin leach thinks the winner should do with the money. type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir® an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. and levemir® helps lower your a1c. levemir® comes in flextouch® the only prefilled insulin pen with no push-button extension. levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration. that's 50% longer than lantus® which lasts 28 days. today i'm asking about levemir® flextouch®. levemir® is a long-acting insulin

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later this year but didn't reveal much about what's next. >> i'm going to have dinner on a school night with my family who i have heard from multiple sources are lovely people. [ laughter ] now! [ cheers and applause ] aagh. what is this fluid? what are these feelings? a. ag himfrankenste >> the first "the daily show" with jon stewart aired in 19991 right in the biddle of the bill clinton sex trial. >> republicans want to call monica lewinsky to the stand as well as any other women he had an affair with. they say it could paralyze

interstate traffic and rob the fast food industry of many of its assistant managers. >> i don't know how i feel about that. stewart said hosting the show was the honor of his professional life but he has really changed the game in late night and in news in a lot of ways. >> yeah so entertaining though. >> we all -- >> i'm going to miss him. >> we'll miss him and hold on to him for a little while longer this year. the clock is ticking to his end but the nice powerball lottery. it's really big. >> really big. >> $485 million that's a lot of money and that makes it the fifth largest lottery prize ever in u.s. history and the third largest in powerball history. >> if you just happen to be the only winner, what is that going to mean for you. abc's nick watt caught up with one guy who knows plenty about the lifestyles of the rich and famous. >> travel anywhere you want to go and stay in the best

presidential suite anywhere you want to do nice to do it on your own private plane and sail on your own private yacht and nice to have 24 hief-hour around the clock limousine service. you never get wet again. you never have to see snow in boston. >> and some more big numbers for you. a single winner taking the lump sum payment would get nearly $328 million before taxes. >> oh my goodness. $2 attempt. odds pretty good -- >> pretty good t.j.? that's what you're going to go with. >> 1 out of 175 million. that means have you a chance. got to have all five numbers and the powerball number and i'm told the numbers don't have to be in order. >> just to have the numbers so you got great odds. >> okay. could the heavens be smiling gown at us? >> looks that way. see this picture behind us nasa has released this image taken by the hubble telescope that looks a lot like a smiley face. two glowing yellow eyes forming a face and smile.

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. for wednesday morning at 4:28. i am kristen sze. >> i am eric thomas. leyla gulen is here with my cup of joe and meteorologist mike nicco. live doppler hd shows a lack of fog in most areas. five miles in petaluma. 2.5 in fairfield. you can see it is clear. today, 12 hour span from 7:00 this morning 40 to 50 to low-to-mid 60's at noon. we will hang in the low-to-mid 60's through 4:00 and enjoy delightful evening in the mid-to-upper 50's. just high clouds and a lot of sunshine. >> you got the weather. leyla, you have the traffic? what does the cup of gentleman do? the fuel to get you going.

>> you do not mode to hurry. you have clear conditions on the bay bridge with cars from the east bay. to san jose this is the drive into cupertino 101 northbound a couple of headlights but quiet. >> we will get to developing news, san jose police are looking for a gunman who opened fire at a restaurant. a woman was shot. our reporter is at the scene on center road. matt? yes, this is the center square shopping center. the restaurant is between a hail and nails place where they found a woman shot at least once. police say they received a call before 9:00 last night she was taken to a local hospital and is listed inle." no one was arrested. so far, no details are being released about what happened leading up to the shooting. police say this are no suspects. a sign on the restaurant says

security cameras are in use and another that says 24 hour alarm and camera security surveillance video if there is video of what took place, police will look at that to help in the investigation. thanks, matt. breaking overnight police in north carolina have arrest a man on suspicion of shooting and kill three people near the university of north carolina campus. detectives say all three victims of muslim dental student,ly wife and her sister. 46-year-old turn himself in and is facing three counts of murder. police are not releasing a motive but the shooting sparked outrage on twitter with company arguing the three were killed because of their religion. >> today, palo alto police are planning to release the sketch of a suspect would took pictures of a woman in a public bathroom following the fall into the bath rome at the country have in palo alto, the second time this has