making news in america this morning, president-elect donald trump selects more people for his cabinet. his pick for epa head, though, is causing some controversy because of his stance on climate change. plus, the latest appointee, a co-founder of the wwe, and overnight another trump tweet is creating conflict. arctic blast, the temperatures below zero this morning, where they're heading right now. plus, why snow could cause big problems in the northwest. breaking overnight an inmate serving a life sentence escapes from prison. we have the latest on the massive manhunt under way. for the first time in decades the life expectancy in the u.s. drops. what's behind the decline?

a good thursday morning to you all. we begin with president-elect donald trump announcing more cabinet nominees as he prepares for his second rally of the week later today. >> and joining trump on stage tonight in iowa will be that state's governor, terry branstad. his choice for ambassador to china. now, trump also tapped retired four-star general john kelly to join the ranks as homeland security chief. but he's getting immediate pushback for choosing scott pruitt, a climate change denier he is known by some. janai norman has the latest from washington. janai, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. so, donald trump added a third general to his new administration, as you said, retired general john kelly tapped for secretary of homeland security. but it's the president-elect's pick for head of the epa that has democrats up in arms. the man dubbed by "time" magazine president of the divided states of america continues to split the country. a new bloomberg poll shows donald trump's favorability

rating at 50% with 49% of americans polled believing the country is heading in the wrong direction. >> i believe we're in the process of putting together one of the all-time great cabinets that has ever been assembled in our nation's history. >> reporter: the president-elect believes he and his cabinet will change that, though, so far many of his choices for key roles have come with their fair share of controversy. the latest, trump's choice of oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt to lead the environmental protection agency. >> he has great qualifications and a good record as the a.g. of oklahoma. >> reporter: pruitt's bio on the a.g. website shows he established the state's first federalism unit to combat unwarranted regulation and overreach by the federal government and is a leading advocate against the epa's activist agenda. the pick has drawn sharp criticism from environmental advocates and democrats who say pruitt denies the science of climate change and has routinely chosen the big oil and coal industry over the well-being of

his constituents. they are promising a tough nomination fight. senator brian schatz of hawaii tweeting, nominating a climate denier to run the environmental protection agency is offensive. i will do everything i can to stop this. and trump nominating wwe co-founder linda mcmahon to lead the small business administration. >> hey, look at this. >> reporter: the president-elect himself once wrestled mcmahon's husband on television. and the announcement of pruitt for epa comes as trump met with actor and environmental activist leonardo dicaprio to talk about climate change and how focusing on renewable clean energy could create millions of jobs. kendis and diane. >> of course, that meeting comes just days after he met with al gore. a lot of people saying they're getting mixed signals when it comes to the environment there. janai, thank you. and trump is now embroiled in a public spat with the union leader that represents the carrier workers in indianapolis. >> the local united steelworkers

president, you see him there, chuck jones said he was grateful to trump for his efforts to save jobs but he believed trump had lied about the number of jobs saved saying it was actually 800, not 1,100 as trump claimed. >> trump fired back tweeting jones has done a terrible job. an hour later, a second tweet telling the union to spend more time working and less time talking. arctic air is invading much of the country this morning and setting the stage for winter weather in several states. >> it is brutal in some parts. take a look at some of these windchills. minus 11 in denver. 4 degrees in chicago. 0 in minneapolis. 25 degrees as far south as dallas. stay warm as much as you can out there. storms off the pacific are colliding with that cold weather and overnight snow started falling in northern california. this video coming to us from redding. that system is moving towards washington and oregon. abc's rob marciano explains why that could cause problems for the northwest.

>> the problem is with this cold air in place we have storms coming in from the pacific so a rare low elevation snow event for portland and seattle could see 2 to 5 inches in those cities and they don't do well with that amount of snow. >> all of this comes as people in north dakota are digging out from a blizzard. here's an image giving new meaning to the term snowed in. this is glenberg. they had a seven-foot snowdrift there that molded right into their front door. i think the kids had ray snow day. breaking overnight two major manhunts are under way this morning in the south. south carolina prison officials are looking for michael williamson who say they broke out of mccormick correctional institution serving life in prison. now, police say williamson may be the same man who stabbed a police officer at a columbia walmart a few hours later. the officer was responding to a shoplifting call when an attacker stuck her several times with a knife. the attacker got away,

and the officer is hospitalized but expected to recover. then in neighboring georgia, another widespread search is under way this morning for a fugitive accused of shooting two police officers killing one of them. investigators say the suspect minquell lembrick took off after a shoot-out with police and is considered armed and dangerous. officers responding to a domestic disturbance call. a message posted on lembrick's facebook page says not going to jail. to california now and some alarming new details this morning about the deadly warehouse inferno in oakland. officials say building inspectors had not been inside the warehouse in 30 years. despite the city investigating safety complaints around the time of last week's fire. now, last night oakland's mayor confirmed there were no working sprinklers or smoke detectors in that building. 36 people died in the fire. seven have not been identified. the investigation is expected to take several more weeks. and a new development in that deadly wildfire in tennessee. two teenagers are now in custody accused of aggravated arson.

the fast-moving flames roared across the great smoky mountains near gatlinburg last month killing 14 people and leveling or destroying more than 2,400 buildings. now, prosecutors say the teens could face more charges and their case could move to an adult court. former astronaut john glenn is being treated at a hospital in ohio. the 95-year-old has been there for more than a week but hospital officials are being tight-lipped about his condition. glenn was the first american to orbit the earth in 1962. he then served four terms in the senate and returned to space in 1998 while still a sitting senator at the age of 77. well, still ahead, new tests highlighting the safest vehicles on the road. and we have new pictures from inside the plane as a pilot was forced to make an emergency landing and passengers forced to put on oxygen masks. plus, a man hooks a whopper in the water, but this was no fish. the bundle found bobbing in the water worth thousands of

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in seattle a man suspected of being under the influence of drugs drove the wrong way on busy interstate 5 at the height of the evening commute. he slammed into as many as ten cars before stopping then taking off on foot. that's until police caught him there. amazingly the few injuries were only minor, but traffic was backed up for miles. passengers on board a southwest airlines flight out of dallas got quite a square as the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing. oxygen masks were deployed on that houston bound plane after it suffered some sort of pressurization issue. now, the plane did land safely but it's been a rough week for southwest. there was a similar pressure issue on another flight and then a report of smoke on a third flight. this is from the san francisco international airport.

a man running around avoiding authorities right there on the tarmac. he had reportedly been lying on the floor receiving medical treatment at a ticket counter when out of nowhere he just got up and ran off. he wound up on the airfield as you can see when he eventually then got tired and was apprehended. >> all right. a good thing it happened now and not next week. the christmas holiday travel season starts in just about a week and the airline industry expects it to be busy. the group airlines for america forecasts 3.5% increase on u.s. carriers. that's more than 45 million passengers thanks to lower airfares and an improving economy. it also says the airlines are adding 99,000 seats a day for the holidays. and less than half as many vehicles earned top marks from the insurance industry this year compared to last year. the reason is tougher headlight standards. the insurance institutes for highway safety gave its top rating to only 38 new models

down from 79 the year before. the institute says some of the fancy new headlights don't do as good a job as the old-fashioned ones. and if you've ever been told that tickets to an event were sold out as soon as they went on sale, well, congress is trying to prevent that from happening again. a new bill awaiting the president's signature will make it against the law to use bots to buy up huge quantities of tickets in seconds. now, bots are computer programmers used by scalpers to corner the market on events and buy everything up with the bot and get to upcharge anyone with a ticket. >> it still won't impact your chances of getting "hamilton" tickets. >> i still won't get to go? >> probably not. so, when we come back, life expectancy in the u.s. is dropping for the first time in 20 years. plus, the dramatic moment at a high school. a student shot by a police officer after he pulls out a large knife. an update on the investigation and his condition. walgreens presents, a holiday mini miracle.

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a delta four rocket blasted off from cape canaveral as scheduled last night. the mission to launch that air force satellite had been rescheduled five times since september 22nd when it was originally set to take off. so finally, boom, they got it. >> success. delays on the roads this morning are most likely in the pacific northwest with snow and ice in the western mountains and around the great lakes where there will be heavy snow. if you're flying you can expect airport delays in san francisco and salt lake city. a nevada high school student is in critical condition after he was shot by a police officer. the 14-year-old had allegedly threatened another student with a knife during a fight. the cop ordered him to drop the weapon, but he refused. >> dozens of other students witnessed the everyone tire encounter, and it was captured by several on youtube videos. classes will be held at that school today with counselors available for any students who

want to talk with them about the incident. well, testimony resumes today in the death penalty trial of dylann roof. he is an admitted white supremacist who confessed to gunning down nine black people who invited him to their bible study. some of those who survived the massacre described their horrifying ordeals in court. abc's steve osunsami is there. >> reporter: the united states versus dylann roof is moving forward this morning in this charleston courthouse with more testimony from first responders who raced to this historic black church after reports of the shooting. police are telling difficult stories on the witness stand, how they found nine people killed in the house of their lord in this basement of mother emanuel ame methodist church. the u.s. attorney spoke eloquently saying parishioners welcomed 22-year-old dylann roof to their bible study but little did they know how cold a heart he had. instead of a bible to study, the defendant chose to bring a 45 caliber pistol.

roof with his boyish face sat in his prison stripes staring silently into space. prosecutors say he confessed in a two-hour-long interview recorded by the fbi. steve osunsami, abc news, charleston. and life expectancy in the united states has dipped slightly for the first time in decades. the rate went from 78.9 years in 2014 to 78.8 years last year. now, that's after seeing no decline since 1993. on average women are still living about five years longer than men. cdc analysts did not speculate on the cause of the drop, but the rise in obesity could be playing a role. the tallest land mammal is now on the extinction watch list. the world's population of giraffes has plunged about 40% over the last 30 years. this is according to a conservation advocacy group. now, reasons for that drass lick decline are increasing human population, habitat loss, civil unrest as well as illegal hunting. and a fishing boat crew and their clients had a rather

memorable trip off the coast of south florida. so they come upon this in the water. originally thinking it was a fish, but when they bring it on board, nope, it's a bundle of what is believed to be a kilo of cocaine. >> wow. >> they call the coast guard, handed the package over at sea. the boat's captain says it's the first time in his 40-year career that he's come across cocaine just floating by in the water like that. >> quite a fish tale. well, now some sports and hard to believe we're saying this right now, but tonight's thursday night football game is actually a big one. it's between the oakland raiders and kansas city chiefs. good game. >> let's get some of last night's nba action now from our guys over at espn. good morning, america. stan verrett, neil everett. we're in los angeles back together again for you. >> warriors and clippers back together again at staples center. the last six times they've gotten together anywhere. it's been all warriors and it was again, steph curry no look pass to kevin durant for the slam. durant just one for five on threes.

steph curry one for eight on threes but the warriors in control. klay thompson hit three threes, didn't have 60 this time. led all scorers with 24. the warriors won seven straight over the clippers. lebron james and the cavaliers are at madison square garden where security is tight. the knicks defense was not tight. kevin love, that pass was tight. lebron james, some thought he was uptight because of what phil jackson had said about his business associates. take that. lebron james, if he played with a chip on his shoulder, didn't affect his jumping ability. james was huge, kyrie irving was huge. love was huge. spike lee has seen enough. >> time to get on the train. >> yeah. >> also the rockets 134-95 over the lakers. and aroldis chapman back to the yankees. >> wow. >> now back to you. >> we'll take it. one more item from that cavaliers/knicks game.

here are the cleveland starters doing the water bottle challenge on the bench. this is while their teammates are still playing. >> they're trying to close out the game. lebron james there took the bottle and the bottle ended up on the court. we can't blame them. it's a long season and you have to pass the time doing something especially when you're playing the knicks the way the knicks are playing. >> what does it say when your own teammates are so bored they don't want to watch you play anymore. >> what does it say about the knicks. >> that could be a better point. up next in "the pulse," "forbes" out with his its list of the most overpaid actors. can you guess who is number one? "time" magazine responds to criticism that they put the wrong person on the cover and, look, donald trump, they're saying they gave him devil horns. was it on purpose? n purpose?

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your thursday morning "pulse" starting with donald trump who is praising "time" magazine after being selected as the person of the year, but some people are saying we should take a closer look at this part of the graphic itself. >> so, in that cover photo the president-elect is perfectly centered, as you can see, under the "m" in the world "time" and many are saying it makes him look like he has devil horns. the magazine, though, insists this is entirely coincidence. >> yeah, as proof "time" magazine tweeted out their other shots that showed hillary clinton, vladimir putin and, of course, the pope. hollywood is chock-full of actors who are apparently bad investments for movie studios. >> yes, so "forbes" magazine is out with this year's list of most overpaid actors. number four, will ferrell. >> channing tatum, believe it or not, the third least profitable actor. >> in second place, will smith. >> and for the second year in a

row can you guess who tops the list? >> yeah. >> johnny depp returns just a measly $2.80 for every dollar that he takes home. >> he had a couple of bombs this year. and finally the big public christmas tree now standing in montreal was inspired by the tree in new york's rockefeller center and now it's inspiring all kinds of criticism. >> it stands 85 feet tall with plenty of lights but some critics are saying it really isn't much better than that pathetic tree from the charlie brown special. >> some guy said it look like it went through tree rehab. >> more news after this. all-in-one cold symptom relief from tylenol®, the #1 doctor recommended pain relief brand. tylenol® when you have a cold, pain from chest congestion can make this... feel like this. all-in-one cold symptom relief from tylenol®, the #1 doctor recommended pain relief brand.

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,. good morning, north bay, let's get going. this is abc7 mornings. >> but not until you have the umbrella or raincoat. there is live doppler hd. tracking the storm that is bringing rain. winds. cold. all of that is happening. >> a picture of the bay bridge toll plaza you can see the drops on the camera and the reflection of the headlights on the roads. good morning. it is a wet thursday, day 8. i am natasha zouves. >> i am reggie aqui with jessica castro and mike and alexis. mike, you are the man of the hour. >> we will zoom down to street level and show you the better radar returns, san mateo and dumbarton bridge toward the coast. you can see waves of light to moderate rate through the morning commute. look at walnut creek, and south

bay can you not see the 24 interchange because the rain is falling. heading through the day we will see the rain go from moderate this morning to light as we head to noon to scattered light showers in the afternoon. it will be milder in the upper 50s to 60. any hot spots? alexiswe have had our fair share of spinouts and solo vehicle crashes the slow down. drive for conditions. live doppler hd is on our traffic maps and you can see we have widespread scattered showers with a crash in the tri-valley westbound 580 and it sounds serious. it sounds like we have a semi involved with a couple of sedans. that is building. work on getting more information with the two right lanes blocked. there you go, at look at the soggy commute. wet everywhere. give yourself extra time. >> our reporter, amy hollyfield, is tracking the rain.

>> she is in berkeley. how is it looking? >> good morning, guys, it is raining on berkeley. it is pretty. all lit up for the holidays but it does a nice job of showing you how wet the streets are. what you can prepare for as you head out. i want to show you what it lose like on the freeways. this is what happened overnight while you were sleeping and could happen while you are driving this morning. this is 580. an hour and a half ago. in dublin. westbound. coming down good. not a downpour. not a white out. but not a drizzle. a good moderate rain. we are still getting it in berkeley. it is light now. it is not too cold. the last two mornings were colder than now. it doesn't hurt to put on extra layer to keep the happens warm. i am happy to have my mittens. don't forget the rain jacket and the barack obama. it will -- and