making news in america this monday morning -- blistering cold, tracking subzero temperatures. already setting records. the luggage piling up, as flights are canceled across the country. and football fans braving the cold. the last vote. it will likely be official today as electors are expected to confirm donald trump's victory. could the electors go rogue and block his win? wedding day tragedy. a large tree falls on a group taking photos. killing one person. and injuring several others. this morning, we're hearing from witnesses for the first time. and highway emergency. a car smashing through a pole and still not stopping. how good samaritans jumped in to help the driver.

good morning. i'm kendis gibson. >> and i'm marci gonzalez in for diane macedo. we begin with the brutal bout of arctic air across the country. >> take a look at some of the wind chills we're seeing this morning. minus 22 in chicago. that's what people are waking up to. in d.c., 18. and here in new york city, 14. >> getting home for the holidays is proving difficult because of the weather. travelers forced to sleep in airports as thousands of flights are canceled. >> you can see the bags there piling up at denver's airport. nfl players and fans enduring temperatures below zero. the cold front is smashing records. and it's on the move. this morning, a fresh blast of arctic air. >> feels like i'm in the antarctic. >> reporter: the cold front already breaking record lows in two dozen cities. in the dakotas, kansas, nebraska, and all the way down to texas.

travelers likely face a fifth consecutive day of weather-related disruptions. after nearly 5,000 cancellations across the country since thursday. >> got through security, then my flight got canceled. >> reporter: at denver international airport, people sleeping in the airport. and the bags piling up in baggage claim for frontier airlines, as the carrier cancels dozens of flights. on the roads, slippery conditions responsible for this 67-vehicle crash over the weekend. the pileup resulting in two deaths near baltimore. this lake michigan lighthouse captures how the weekend felt for millions of americans. caked in ice. brutal temperatures testing fan loyalty at several football games. in chicago, the bears and packers played in one of the coldest games ever at soldier field, with a wind chill of minus 18 degrees. in kansas city, the thermometer read 2 degrees at kickoff for the chiefs game. sub zero temperatures giving

phnew meaning to cold brew and frozen food. >> we have frozen guacamole and hummus. >> reporter: but the die hard fans still tailgating. >> that's dedication. >> it totally is. we should point out, it will be a balmy 29 in kansas city today. >> oh, toasty. delightful. so who's next to see the dangerous arctic air? accuweather's paul williams is tracking it all. good morning, paul. >> good morning to you, as well, marci, kendis. high pressure system in the south central part of the country will allow some sunshine. it's a high pressure system. it will tug on the cold air, which will be a cold flow throughout the entire northeast. ironically enough, by the time tuesday rolls around, the same clockwise rotation brings in milder air that will step in as early as tuesday. arctic air to the north. chilly air to the south. it will stay cold with a high pressure system pulling the cold air from the north. kendis? marci? >> our thanks there to paul williams with the bad news about the winter there. the electoral college is expected to make donald trump's election official.

as 538 members gather across the country today to cast their votes. >> gop electors are facing pleas to block trump amid intelligence claims of russian hacking and hillary clinton's popular vote victory. though that's not likely to happen. angelica spanos has the latest. good morning to you, angelica. >> reporter: marci, kendis, good morning to you guys. the hope is that today's vote will remove the last bit of drama coming from this unprecedented election. opposition groups and liberals have tried to urge trump electors to vote for clinton post election. but the numbers will still point to trump. >> whoa, whoa, donald trump has got to go. >> reporter: in the nation's capital, protesters marched on the mall. in north carolina, a vigil at the state capital to encourage electors to block donald trump. electors there insist they're not changing their vote. >> it really shows a lack of understanding of our democracy. it shows an honest lack and disrespect.

>> reporter: it would take at least 37 republican electors to side with hillary clinton or another candidate for trump to lose. the reality of this is slim. some electors want more information before they vote. 80 of them asking for a briefing on russia. but intelligence officials declined. >> the entire nonsense about the electors trying to use the russian hacking issue to change the election results is really unfortunate. i think that actually undermines our democracy. >> reporter: the president-elect still refuses to accept u.s. intelligence claiming russian agents and president vladimir putin were involved in hacking the campaign. his team says it wants proof, via a report from intelligence officials. trump took to twitter to say, if my many supporters acted and threatened people like those who lost the election are doing, they would be scorned and called terrible names. meantime, on capitol hill, there's a push for a second

-- separate investigation into the russian hacking. critics of trump say that his refusal to accept that russia interfered is a sign he doesn't believe russia is a u.s. enemy. marci, back to you. >> all right, angelica, thank you. breaking news from syria. mass evacuations resumed this morning in aleppo. at least ten buses were seen taking civilians out after days of delays. >> over the weekend, buses september to remove civilians were burned by the opposition. today, the u.n. is expected to vote on a plan to put more than 100 monitors in eastern aleppo to try to ensure safe evacuations. the people who have gotten out of aleppo are said to be in bad shape, with no access to food or water. a retired teacher from canada is among the dead in jordan after what one official called a cowardly terrorist attack. it happened yesterday at a tourist attraction in the western city of karak. 62-year-old linda vacher and nine others died in a series of attacks. at least four gunmen were killed

after a standoff. no one has claimed responsibility. as you know, the president of the united states has to deal with a lot of serious topics every day. which is why white house staff had a little bit of fun pranking the president at the white house. did you see this over the weekend? take a look. staffers decided to give the president some frosty surveillance treatment. >> they set up the white house snowmen at different windows so it would look like they are keeping a close eye on him there. >> lucky for the staff, their boss has a good sense of humor. they got a shot of him looking surprised by his new friends. >> one twitter user took things just a step further. adding vladimir putin's face to one of the heads. still ahead, it is the busiest shipping day of the year. the high-tech option for procrastinators. plus, a rescue mission inside a cave, after seven people go missing. an update on the overnight search. and caught on camera, a car careens down a highway. slamming through street lights.

we're learning why the driver lost control.

for me, it was heart-wrenching. bea: it takes a toll on everyone. i mean, it's a depressing disease to watch unfold before your eyes. you just don't see -- the person's soul is, like, gone. lisa: this disease just ravages a family. it changes your life. the magnitude of it is indescribable.

art: now is the moment. if we work together, we can stop this epidemic. grace: contact brightfocus and learn more. 20 freight train cars filled with coal jumped the tracks in central kansas. no one was hurt when the union pacific train derailed. investigators are trying to figure out the cause. there's a $20,000 reward for a man who killed a 3-year-old in a case of road rage. police say the gunman became upset when the grandmother did not drive away from a red light fast enough. the man got out of his vehicle and fired at least once before

driving off. seven cave explorers who had been missing in western kentucky have now been rescue fpd group had gone underground saturday afternoon and were expected to come out sunday morning. high-water levels in the cave made it difficult to find them. they're being treated for exposure and hypothermia. to texas, where it's again safe to drink the tap water. residents had been warn not to drink, cook, or bathe with the water. today is expected to be the busiest mailing day of the year. the postal service expects to seven 12 million customers today who want their gifts to arrive by christmas. some cities, going high-tech might get you more time. the post-mates app can help. amazon's prime now service has two-hour delivery up

christmas eve. >> good up ttips. "rogue one" already helping disney. taking in $155 million over the weekend. another disney film, "moana ts quuz second with $12 million. "office christmas party" was third with $8 million. when we come back, multimillion manhole covers exploding. what caused this? and celebration of the year, a football player donates himself to the salvation army. the reaction, coming up. walgreens presents, a holiday mini miracle. hey! hey! ♪ this is for you. did you really? didn't have too! ♪ getting the gift you almost kept for yourself? now that's a holiday mini miracle.

and it's easy to create your own at walgreens... with 50 percent off the gifts of the week, just around the corner. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. and let roomba from irobot help with your everyday messes. roomba navigates your entire home. cleaning up pet hair and debris for up to 2 hours. which means your floors are always clean. you and roomba, from irobot. better. together. psh psh lunch is ready!

campbell's spider-man soups. made for real, real life. thanks mom dobecause you've got ams lot of cheering to do! get fast sinus relief...with vicks sinex. and get your head back in the game. sinex. the congestion, pressure, pain to clear your head, medicine. drum roll please.hing. it's the sing sweepstakes. it's some of this, loads of that. 'cause you can win $100,000 from post cereal brands. honey bunches of oats. and sing. only in theaters more than 44,000 volunteers braved a cold, freezing rain, to place nearly 250,000 wreaths at arlington national cemetery this weekend in virginia. it was the 25th year for wreaths across america. it took place at more than 1200 other locations. drivers this morning should

watch out for slippery conditions in the northeast. you may run into some mountain snow in the cascades and northern rockies. and roads may be wet at times in the northwest and most of florida. the investigation is just beginning into a family tragedy. a tree falling on a wedding party as they took pictures, killing one woman. >> this is absolutely horrible. at least seven others were injured including a child. the family had gathered for photographs when the large eucalyptus tree came crashing down in a park in los angeles. several young girls were at family picnic nearby when the tree fell. >> and the tree fell. people were running towards over there. i guess the branches caught them. my dad and family members were coming here. my dad saw the groom. pulled him out of the branches. >> here's what we're learning this morning. officials speculate that the long drought in california and recent heavy rains may have caused the tree to become unstable.

the park is closed while a tree expert can find out exactly why it fell. now to a dramatic crash captured on camera in florida. a driver wildly swerving and then slamming into a light pole. instead of stopping, he just keeps on going. as onlookers watch in horror and then jump in to help. abc's linsey davis has more. >> pull over, pull over! >> reporter: these are the harrowing moments on a florida highway. a car careens out of control, coming dangerously close to catastrophe. >> pull over! what the -- >> reporter: watch as the driver, apparently having a medical episode crashes through the street light and keeps going. >> what are you doing? pull over! >> reporter: despite blown-out tires, the cadillac picks up speed, crisscrossing the highway. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: slamming into a guardrail. >> pull, you need to stop! >> reporter: before finally coming to a stop. >> bro, you need to stop. stop. >> reporter: the driver appears

disoriented but is somehow okay. >> just get out the car, it's smoking. >> come on. we got to get out of the car. the car is smoking. >> reporter: linsey davis, abc news, new york. >> quite an amazing piece of video. linsey will have more on that on "gma." exploding manhole covers causing a safety hazard north of boston. after the explosion, flames could be seen coming from underground. followed by thick, black smoke. businesses and apartments were evacuated in the town of malden. officials are blaming an underground electrical fire. fans are mourning the death of zsa zsa gabor. recalling that unmistakable accent. >> darling, a girl can't make a success on instincts alone. to understand a man takes a lifetime of studying. >> and study she did. gabor was married nine times. she was an actress and beauty queen. and mostly famous for being famous. she died yesterday at her home in los angeles after a heart attack. she was 99.

funeral plans have not yet been announced. >> she had a long life indeed. and plenty of movies and tv shows she was a part of. time for sports. including the cowboys inching closer to an nfc east title. >> we get the highlights now from espn. good morning, america. welcome to our festive "sportscenter" studios. i'm john buccigross. if you're up now, you may not have been up late last night to watch the cowboys and the buccaneers. that's what i'm here for. to show you highlights. ezekiel elliott. 23 rushes. 159 rushing yards. this passed tony dorsett for most rushing touchdowns by a rookie in cowboy history. he made news by jumping in the giant salvation army red kettle. of course, he got a penalty. dak prescott was great throwing the football. this one a running score. he was 32 of 36 throwing the football. one more chance for jameis winston. but he'll throw his third interception of the game. the cowboys have won six straight home games. the longest streak in a single season since 1999.

their dream season led by their t two rookies continues. how about the titans and the chiefs. it's freezing cold. ryan succop. oh, no! it's short. and the titans lose -- what? andy reid calls timeout. so he gets a second chance. he said, i just tried to kick that thing as hard as i could. forget about form and function. just kick it hard. it's good from 53 yards. the titans' playoff hopes still alive. as they beat the chiefs. raiders-chargers. sebastian janikowski. from 44. knocks it in. he breaks a 16-16 tie with 2:40 left in the game. one more chance. go, chargers, go. nope, philip rivers picked off by reggie nelson. the raiders clinch their first playoff berth since 2002. merry christmas, happy holidays, america. >> '16 is a strange year indeed.

up next in "the pulse." the science behind gift giving. why one-third of all presents are returned. and the young hockey fan stealing the show at game. give underwear to this holiday. and there are some people you shouldn't . people you should. shouldn't. janice! should. shouldn't. yes. no. should. no way. should. no. definitely not. ha ha, nay. you shouldn't give underwear to everybody. but for those you do, give them fruit of the loom.

...has more high-speed data nowthan ever before.reless... we're talking double the data for just 10 bucks more. that's 10 gigs of high-speed data... ...to stream more video... ...and more music... more whatever you want! all on america's largest and most dependable... ...4g lte networks. choose from two great plans: our unlimited plan with 5gb of high-speed data. or double your data for just 10 bucks more. straight talk wireless. only at walmart. oh, it's actually...s your sfx: (short balloon squeal) it's ver... sfx: (balloon squeals) ok can we... sfx: (balloon squeals) i'm being so serious right now... i really want to know how your coffee is. it's... sfx: (balloon squeals) hahahaha, i had a 2nd balloon goodbye! oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah.

happens to more people than you think. try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. mmm. good right? yeah. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you. time to check your monday morning "pulse." starting with the psychology behind gift giving. apparently making it clear why there's so much gift returning. >> researchers blaming it on several categories of bad gifting. among therm -- among them -- buying a gift to change someone. like getting a cook ware set for your daughter-in-law. and then there's the to you, for me gift. the husband picking out the big-screen tv for his wife. >> he's nice. you can watch lifetime on the big screen, honey. and let's not forget the bragging gift.

intended to show off or outgift another giver. this year, before you buy, think about your motive. >> i'm okay with being outgifted if it means diamonds. or something like that. >> yes, slew tly. >> send them my way. >> a new car. >> there you go. a young woman in georgia now has enough gifts for the laundry sock gremlins to last a lifetime. >> look at haven and her boyfriend, jackson. when jackson asked haven what she wanted for christmas, she said fuzzy socks. >> that's a good answer. so jackson ordered a pack of 12. however, he got a little bit concerned when the box arrived, because it seemed just a little too big. >> here's what happened. that's because someone goofed and sent him 12 dozen fuzzy socks. 144 socks in all. he was only charged 12 bucks. let's be honest, the detroit red wings are playing immediame hockey right now, with as many wins as losses.

the fans have to take their fun where they can. such as watching this adorable boy on the big video screen during the game. >> when he appeared, they cheered. and -- [ crowd cheering ] >> when the video cut away to a shot of the crowd, they booed. [ crowd booing ] [ crowd cheering ] >> until they put him back on. >> that's pretty cool. because you have to realize that -- they haven't had much to cheer about here in detroit. >> giving him something to be pretty happy about. >> all right. more news after this. [ crowd booing ] the things that i consume on a daily basis, a lot of it is very acidic. the enamel on my teeth was actually weakening. the whiteness wasn't there as much. my teeth didn't look as healthy as others. my dentist said that pronamel would help fight against that erosion that foods and drinks were causing. so it was really important to start using the pronamel. it'll be one less thing you have to worry about. pronamel is now giving me the confidence to know that i'm doing the right thing. so it's nice to know that it's as simple as that.

♪ yopantene expert gives you thee? most beautiful hair ever, with our strongest pro-v formula ever. strong is beautiful. the possibility of a flare was almost always on my mind. thinking about what to avoid, where to go... and how to deal with my uc. to me, that was normal. until i talked to my doctor. she told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it under control when certain medications haven't worked well enough. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common,

and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. raise your expectations. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, control is possible.

they don't help single moms. hi. hi. what happened to our house last year? it flooded. and the water flooded out. yeah. the red cross arranged the hotel for us. they gave me that break, that leverage, to be able to get it together and... take care of them, you know? i feel like we've come full circle. like that! this is how i'll do it. sarah: there you go.

>> good morning, bay area, let's >> 4:28 on monday, december 19. >> i am natasha zouves. >> glad you are here. we have told temperatures, meteorologist, meteorologist mike nicco. there is a situation in danville. >> we have a problem. >> traffic alert on southbound 680, this is before diabolo road. the two right lanes are blocked. the two left lanes are open. officially it sounded like it was a large moving truck. now it sounds like it is a delivery truck that flipped before 3:30 this morning. there was significant backup for 10 or 15 minutes.

we have a crew on the way to the scene. we have a crash of 101. meteorologist mike nicco, it is freezing in some areas and we could have black ice. >> be careful. cold temperatures are the big story with clear conditions on live doppler hd. i want to get you out the door with temperatures running from -- let me try that again to see if i can get the monitor to stay up. we will have temperatures starting in the 20s and 30s. hanging out around the mid-40s and fists. 40s again at 7:00. we will turn it over to reggie and natasha for the news. >> it is not just the cold there are 20s and 30s.

>> did you call me cold? at ice. >> matt keller in livermore at 2nd, one of the coldest spots. >> i'm in the truck. this is smart of the thing i can do. the heater is on. i am in here. the heat is on. i will step out. i have a big jacket with scarfs and a sweater. i have long underwear on. i cannot see that. that is good. we have the first republic bank and they have a temperature signs up and it 28 degrees in livermore, we have a freeze warning. it is cold. it is the holiday and can you feel festive. we were at the light display in pleasanton as people bundle up to see the winter wonderland. the homeowner said the chilly weather has not impacted the crowd and expects