making news in america this wednesday morning, the tributes pouring in overnight for the iconic actress and writer carrie fisher from her co-stars from "star wars" and her life beyond the big screen. several states will ring in the new year with extreme weather. a rapidly developing system could bring feet of snow to the east coast while the west coast also gets hit with winter weather. we're tracking all. it was a best-seller this christmas. but can voice activated assistance help solve a murder. the police warrant involving an amazon echo that's igniting a privacy debate. and sliding down a rock face, see what happens when a b.a.s.e. jump goes very wrong. we do say good morning,

everybody, on this wednesday. we'll start with the death of carrie fisher, the iconic "star wars" actress passing away at the age of 60. >> fisher died yesterday morning at a los angeles hospital four days after going into cardiac arrest on a flight. she's being remembered for a legacy that stretches far beyond her unforgettable role as the head strong princess leia. >> these scenes overnight, an outpouring of grief across the country. fans in san francisco leaving flowers and notes at the yoda fountain on the lucas film campus in the san francisco area. abc's byron pitts with more. ♪ >> help me, obi-wan kenobi. you're my only hope. >> reporter: it was the role that defined her career, princess leia, the heroine of the sci-fi series that swept the world. >> luke! >> reporter: she was just 20 when carrie fisher made the role larger than life. then at age 59 she repriced the role for a new generation of enraptured audiences.

>> some things never change. >> true, you still drive me crazy. >> reporter: she died after suffering a heart attack. she was 60 years old. she leaves behind her mother legendary actress debbie reynolds, her brother todd fisher and her daughter billy lord. reynolds posting these heartfelt words, i'm grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are guiding her to her next stop. love, carrie's mother and todd ff ffsher sharing a personal memory in an interview. >> we were, you know, close friends. i was the younger brother. she dragged me around the house like a doll. it's a very strange place to be looking at the world without her. >> reporter: "star wars" co-star harrison ford describing fisher in a statement, carrie was one of a kind, brilliant, original, funny and emotionally fearless. she lived her life bravely. her career was prolific first gracing the silver screen at just 18 playing a teenage temptress opposite warren beatty

in "shampoo." >> are you? >> what are you talking about? >> making it with my mother. >> reporter: but it was the iconic role of princess leia just two years later that catapulted her to superstardom. >> somebody has to save our skins. >> reporter: in the meantime, she will no doubt be remembered by legions of "star wars" fans with that iconic line -- >> may the force be with you. >> reporter: byron pitts, abc news, new york. >> byron, thank you for that. you know who else is remembering fisher this morning, peter mayhew, he played chewbacca. >> had a sense of humor like nobody else. their characters reunited with an on screen hug in "star wars: "the force awakens." he called fisher the brightest light in every room. >> she was friendly to everybody. she was a person that was a true princess. she knew what she wanted to do and she could always come up with stuff like being one of the boys. she was just brilliant.

>> reporter: mayhew and fisher were friends for 40 years. you see the photo of him more than seven feet tall at one point lifting her up at a rap party after the original "star wars," they definitely had a good time together. he said that he last saw fisher in new york just a few weeks ago and we will have much more on fisher's passing later in this half hour including her final interview just weeks ago. now we're moving on though to the other big story, we have strong storms on the move on both coasts. >> let's start on the west coast right now, a storm coming off the pacific is bringing several feet of snow and several inches of rain and the east coast is closely watching that right there. that could bring a lot of snow by the end of the week. some people are calling it a nor'easter. accuweather's paul williams tracking it all. good morning, paul. >> good morning, diane, kendis. by late week things are going to go right side up to upside down as my grandmother used to say. snow showers are going to become a big problem in the northeast with actually blizzard

conditions nearly two feet of snow. lake-effect snow coming off the lakes with a shot of cold air coming straight out of canada and it's going to drop the temperatures dramatically throughout the ohio valley region. dry air throughout the southeast but we're bracing for some more thunderstorms and another set of storms and showers will make some flood potential storms in the southwest. kendis, diane. >> all right, our thanks to paul. we want to get to some breaking news overnight from the california area. a pair of strong earthquakes felt across a large area for that matter. the 5.7 earthquakes were centered near the california/nevada border but according to social media posts they were felt in fresno, sacramento and lake tahoe. we are getting reports so far of no initial damage reports, some minor rock slides reported in areas but no injuries as well. and we also have breaking news from overseas this morning. turkey and russia have reportedly reached a cease-fire agreement for all of syria so the plan will be presented to the syrian government for consideration according to the turkey state run news agency.

both countries are working to ensure that the deal takes effect after midnight but it does not cover terror groups. the white house may announce this week how it plans to punish russia for hacking during the presidential election campaign. officials tell "the washington post" punishment will include economic sanctions and diplomatic censure. president obama has been under pressure to respond before he leaves office. russia denies wrongdoing and president-elect trump has expressed skepticism that moscow was involved. president-elect trump is vacationing in florida but not taking a vacation from twitter. yesterday he congratulated himself on the economy tweeting, quote, the u.s. consumer confidence index for december surged nearly four points to 113.7, the highest level in more than 15 years. he adds, thanks, donald. and president obama is also on vacation in hawaii but he did make time to meet with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. the two appeared at pearl harbor yesterday in a show of reconciliation. now, abe did not apologize

for the attack by japanese forces but did offer condolences to the thousands of americans killed and said, quote, we must never repeat the horrors of war. president obama says the visit sends a powerful message. >> prime minister abe, i welcome you here in the spirit of friendship as the people of japan have always welcomed me. i hope that together we send a message to the world that there is more to be won in peace than in war. that reconciliation carries more rewards than retribution. >> the meeting with abe will probably be president obama's last with a foreign leader before he leaves office. well, still ahead the major milestone the stock market could hit today. and amazon is taking center stage in a murder investigation. we have the latest on the legal battle over the suspect's amazon echo device and whether police should have access to what it records. plus, a prestigious community is mourning after an

actress is found dead after disappearing on christmas day. the suspect under arrest as police search for answers.

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. the giant ball that will drop in times square to signal the start of the new year is now in place. you can see it there. it has nearly 2,700 waterford crystals. it is 12 feet in diameter, weighs five tons. this year's new design is called the gift of kindness. police officials are blaming an outbreak of violence at shopping malls on social media and teen boredom. the latest incident was last night at a mall in philadelphia when a disturbance broke out at the food court. police say that gathering was planned on snapchat. four people were arrested and

this follows disturbances at more than a dozen malls on monday night. and police in arkansas have filed what may be the first request to retrieve data from an amazon echo in a murder investigation. one of the voice command devices was found at the home of a man accused of murdering a friend whose body was found in a hot tub. the echo could reveal if any music was played or if anyone asked a question perhaps. but so far amazon has declined to provide any information that the echo logged on its servers. the online retailer is calling 2016 its best ever for holiday orders. amazon says it shipped more than 1 billion items around the world during the busy holiday shopping season. more than 72% of amazon's holiday shoppers used a mobile device to make those orders. speaking of record, the dow is inching toward that 20,000 mark. it gained 11 points yesterday to close at 19,945 and nasdaq rose 24 points to close at an all time high and

the dow and nasdaq and s&p have made solid gains this year. when we come back, a country's stunning admission saying hundreds of olympic athletes were part of an organized doping campaign. and check out a b.a.s.e. jumper's bad landing. the whole thing caught on camera. if you could see your cough, you'd see just how far it can spread. robitussin dm max is now better tasting,

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so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how. bird lovers around the world are keeping their eye on a pair of bald eagles in southwest florida or more importantly what they have in their nest. this live feed of the birds shows them taking turns sitting on two eggs expected to hatch in the next few days. now, it usually takes about 35 days for an eagle to hatch so the due date for these two is somewhere between now and the new year. if you're hitting the roads this morning, expect rain from little rock to memphis to nashville and well into atlanta. snow showers from montana to colorado and a few showers in

the northwest. and it looks like a good day to fly with delays only in memphis expected. police made a devastating discovery in the certain for a popular yoga teacher and sometime actress. she disappeared on christmas day. after a search they found tricia mccauley's body on tuesday and charged a suspect with first degree murder. >> but investigators still have no idea why all of this happened. abc's mara schiavocampo with the details. >> reporter: the search for answers after a yoga teacher is found dead. 46-year-old tricia mccauley's body discovered early tuesday in d.c. mccauley was a beloved yoga instructor. >> she was just a very inspiring person. >> reporter: and a longtime actor appearing in the 2006 film "step up" as jenna tatum's stand-in. she was last seen sunday afternoon. police immediately issued an alert for the person believed to be driving mccauley's car. 29-year-old adrian dwayne johnson apprehended at a nearby

cvs. mccauley's body found in her car. now, johnson charged with theft, simple assault and her murder as the community mourns. mara schiavocampo, abc news, new york. >> more on that murder mystery later on today on "gma." in the meantime, there are growing questions this morning about the death michael at the age of 53. his friends and fans still in mourning. now this photo of him appearing bloated in september fueling speculation the singer had been sick. his manager said he died of heart failure but an official cause of death is not expected until next month. turning now to a rough landing for a b.a.s.e. jumper in phoenix. that jumper plunged from a cliff at camel back mountain but hit the canyon wall as he came down. despite having a parachute you can see him slammed to the ground and fortunately an off-duty firefighter

was nearby to assist him until more help arrived. the jumper's injuries luckily are not believed to be life-threatening. after years of denial russian officials admit to widespread doping during the olympics including the 2014 winter olympic games in russia. "the new york times" reporting that one official describes it as an institutional conspiracy. a lab director tampered with the urine samples at the olympics and provided cocktails of performance-enhancing drugs. russian officials say the doping however was not state sponsored. all right, time now for sports including some highlights from the nba. >> here are our guys at espn. good morning, america. neil everett here. usually i'm sitting behind the desk, and i'm not wearing pants. let's go, tommy. come on. thunder and heat right here. russell westbrook and steven adams are teammates and they practice that. look at that. let's make it fancy.

adams posterizes hassan whiteside. adams had 15 points. and 8 rebounds. how about that too. i'm nasty. yeah. look at westbrook. westbrook going for the triple-double even though he said he wishes we would quit talking about him. sorry. can't do it. can't do it. 29 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists and thunder win, smile. rockets and mavs. give me a "t" for texas. give me a "t" for tennessee. trevor ariza and salah mejri will not be exchanging gift card, will not be hanging out and, frankly, if you see them walking towards each other, get out of the way because it's going to go down. apparently ariza believes that mejri had said something about his family in some regard so the fireworks in this one carried on into the locker room after the game. it's a story that will continue with the nba. the rockets did beat the

mavericks in that one. that's all we have for you. have a great wednesday. >> all right. and we're happy that you're wearing pants there, neil. >> thanks, neil. appreciate that. so lonzo ball is pretty well known in the basketball world making headlines this season with the ucla basketball team but it's youngest brother lamelo grabbing all the attention right now. >> that's right. watch as the high school point guard walks up to the half-court point line and effortlessly drains the shot. he's only a sophomore, but you can understand why ucla has already recruited him. >> all of the ball brothers are pretty popular. >> is that hard to do, shoot from the half-court line? >> effortlessly. >> just a little bit. he made it look so easy. . all right. up next in "the pulse," carrie fisher's final tv appearance and see what she said about her affair with harrison ford. apparently today is a good day. it is good riddance day. how people will be saying bye, felicia to 2016. t blood clot, i sure had a lot to think about.

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♪ time to check "the pulse" starting with another glimpse into carrie fisher's extraordinary life displaying her humor until the very end. >> just before she died, fisher was in london promoting her new book, "the princess diarist." it's a series of excerpts from her diaries she wrote while filming the original "star wars" when she was only 19. in her final interview, she spoke with the bbc about her affair with co-star harrison ford. >> we saw each other a lot and, no, literally i remember three times that we -- i, of course, made some oblique reference to it and he went, uh. [ laughter ] >> now, for his part harrison ford has never confirmed nor denied that affair. and even carrie fisher's dog was famous. in later years she would take

live gary, a french bulldog, everywhere with her. >> gary was in london with her and even to interviews such as this one last year with amy robach on "good morning america." >> gary is bored as hell. can you imagine? he's just crying. >> his eyes are closing. we've actually lulled him to sleep with our conversation. this is a low moment for me in my interviewing skills. >> he likes watching tv. >> i've never had someone fall asleep during my interview, carrie. >> that you know of. >> thank you. >> gary, by the way, has been sending out one tweet after another with photos of himself with his master, of course, expressing his affection for her and lifting everyone's spirits a little bit. >> even after her death. >> yeah. so, this has been a pretty awful year for a lot of people but now it's time to turn the page, and to help in that effort there is good riddance day being observed today in new york's times square. >> it's a chance to destroy any unpleasant, embarrassing or unwanted memories from 2016 and

make way for the good memories of 2017 with the help of a giant shredder. just write whatever it is you want to forget or maybe bring a marriage document you want to forget. >> sounds like a great idea. >> shred it up. it's gone. and a family's adorable pup did something very naughty to their christmas dinner. >> bubba snuck into the kitchen on christmas eve and ate the turkey. the family was clueless until the stuffed pooch collapsed bloated on the floor unable to move. tryptophan wins again. >> hey, bubba. that's what i look like on thanksgiving too. >> more news after this. that's what i look like on thanksgiving too. >> more news after this.

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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.

right at the bird avenue exit. so, again, that far right lane did just open up. that traffic slowly filtering out. going to be keeping a close eye on this. head north on 880 and then south on 87 or 101. another update in a few. right now, let's check the weather. good morning, lisa. >> good morning. we are starting with chilly conditions. patchy frost, could have black ice, as well. showing clear conditions. 29 in san ramon. look at these numbers. low to mid-30s in the east bay valleys. 38 in san jose. sitting pretty much where we were yesterday. patchy frost. a clear start. a warmer afternoon with numbers in the low 60s. nasa sha, jessica? >> thank you. three moderate earthquakes