making news in america this morning, the great holiday escape. millions on the move rushing home for the holidays. record crowds at the airport. this morning, where the weather could be frightful and where to expect the worst delays. candidates clash. the final debate of the year sees a big change on stage with a new target emerging. this morning the fireworks and the post-debate clash between joe biden and sarah huckabee sanders. a giant leap forward. the historic launch today for boeing and what it could mean for the future of space exploration. plus, the tragic death of a stuntman on the set of a popular tv show. this morning the multi-million dollar verdict. caught on camera, a man trapped up side this burning

car. what police did next to save his life. and from the sea lions rocking this boat to an unusual search for a missing dog to the owl getting cozy inside this family's christmas tree. all the top trending stories for your friday morning. good friday morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. we begin with the big holiday escape now under way. millions of americans are hitting the roads or heading to the airport. >> in some places the weather will not be cooperating. today is expected to be the busiest air travel day in history for the winter holidays with 3 million people expected to fly on the major airlines. the toughest travel will be in the pacific northwest. you can see why right there. heavy rain along the coast and heavy snow in the mountains. wind gusts could hit 60 miles per hour. >> the other big weather story is the cold in the east.

people from syracuse to boston are starting the morning in the single digits but temperatures will head back to normal today. we'll take a closer look at your forecast in just a few moments. for now to the fireworks at the final democratic presidential debate of the year. this time only seven candidates took the stage and it was mayor pete buttigieg who took much of the fire. >> reporter: the last democratic primary debate of the year began as predicted. >> we need to restore the integrity of the presidency, of the office of the presidency. >> if the president claims that he is so innocent, then why doesn't he have all the president's men testify? >> reporter: while impeaching the president is not an area where the candidates disagree andrew yang struck a different tone. >> we have to stop being obsessed over impeachment which unfortunately strikes many americans like a ball game where you know what the coscore is going to be and start actually

digging in and solving the problems that got donald trump elected in the first place. >> reporter: the conversation took a sharp turn when it came to campaign financing prompting this clash between senator elizabeth warren and mayor pete buttigieg. >> the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900 a bottle wine. think about who comes to that. billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the united states. >> mr. mayor, your response. >> you know, according to "forbes" magazine, i am literally the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or a billionaire. so if -- this is important. [ cheers and applause ] this is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass. >> reporter: buttigieg entered the debate with momentum in iowa and new hampshire making him the prime target of the night. senator amy klobuchar singled out mayor pete's only statewide race, a failed run for state treasurer.

>> you tried and you lost by 20 points. >> let's talk about how we -- >> excuse me. >> reporter: yang was able to lighten the mood during closing statements. >> i know what you're thinking, america. how am i still on this stage with them? >> reporter: yang and klobuchar benefited from the smallest stage yet with only seven candidates. they had considerably more speaking time during this debate while former vice president joe biden had significantly less. >> this will be a key moment to see how mayor pete responds to the first time he is getting serious questions about his record, clearly registering as a front-runner. joe biden less of a story in this debate although he was able to talk about his ability to work with republicans. >> reporter: meanwhile overnight, biden reacting to a tweet from sarah huckabee sanders, the the former white house press secretary seemed to mimic a stunner, using several eyes before writing, i have absolutely no idea what biden is talking about. sanders later clarified she wasn't making fun of anyone with

a speech impediment but biden responded, i've worked my whole life to overcome a stutter and it's my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. it's called empathy. look it up. huckabee sanders has apologized. meanwhile, diversity also came up last night. andrew yang said he was disappointed to be the only candidate of color on stage. the candidates are asking the party to allow a bigger group at the next debate. now to the new impeachment standoff in washington. democrats and republicans clashing over a time line for the trial in the senate. president trump is looking for the gop for vindication but house speaker nancy pelosi is throwing a wrench in the plans. ines de la cuetara has the latest from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, janai and kenneth. democrats are hoping to have witnesses testify as part of his trial but republicans have already rejected that request so house speaker nancy pelosi is hoping, threatening to possibly delay president trump's trial could give her leverage.

history put on hold. president trump becoming just the third president in u.s. history to be impeached but house speaker nancy pelosi is now refusing to take the next steps saying she won't send articles of impeachment over to the senate until majority leader mitch mcconnell reveals what the president's trial will look like. >> our founders when they wrote the constitution, they suspected that there could be a rogue president. i don't think they suspected that we could have a rogue president and rogue leader in the senate at the same time. >> reporter: democrats have been pushing to hear from four witnesses the white house had blocked from testifying including acting chief of staff mick mulvaney and former national security adviser john bolton. the issue coming up at last night's democratic debate. >> if president trump thinks that he should not be impeached, he should not be scared to put forward his own witnesses. >> reporter: but mcconnell has already rejected that request indicating he wants a speedy

trial and that he's working in total coordination with the white house. democrats are hoping threatening to possibly delay trump's trial will give them leverage, but for now at least republicans aren't biting. >> it looks like the prosecutors are getting cold feet in front of the entire country and second-guessing whether they even want to go to trial. >> reporter: president trump responding on twitter writing pelosi is afraid to present impeachment to the senate and adding, so after democrats gave me no due process in the house, no lawyers, no witnesses, no nothing, they now want to tell the senate how to run their trial. >> we think that what they did is unconstitutional. >> reporter: lawmakers are hoping to have that senate trial begin the week of january 6th but that will all depend on when house speaker pelosi begins to send those articles of impeachment over to the senate. janai and kenneth. >> ines in washington, thank you. new details about the shooting at a mall in oklahoma city thursday. terrified holiday shoppers were scrambling for cover after the shots rang out.

police say two people were fighting at a store when someone pulled out a gun and opened fire. the victim is in critical condition. the mall santa was among those forced to evacuate. police overnight were still searching for the gunman. nba star steven adams was among a group of players from the oklahoma city thunder at the mall. they were not hurt. a consumer alert this morning. a security breach affecting customers at wawa convenience stores. the company says malware was found on its payment processing centers. as a result customers who paid with debit or credit cards may have been compromised and that's within the last nine months. the company is offering free credit monitoring services. history is being made at cape canaveral today. boeing is launching its starliner spacecraft to the international space station for the very first time. if the test goes well, the starliner could be used to carry astronauts into space. a test dummy called rosie the rocketeer you see there will

take the place of humans on board rosie is equipped with sensors to measure what the flight would be like for real astronauts. turning back to the weather, let's take a closer look at your friday forecast. good morning to you. we're talking about the the cold and snowy weather across the northwest continuing into your weekend with several inches upon feet across the mountains of the northwest. especially along the i-90 here, the concern is going to be holiday travel. all right. across the northwest. rain elsewhere. it is going to be an active weather pattern here, strong winds also pressing through. how about the weekend travel? a huge chunk of the country though in the green meaning good to go. for accuweather i'm meteorologist chris nallan. coming up, she's offering a huge reward and even rented a plane. the lengths one woman is going to to find her lost dog. but first the verdict after

a deadly accident on the set of the hit tv show "the walking dead." and what we're learning about this wild crash at a florida airport. a truck crashing right through

back now with a vivid reminder to be careful when the weather gets rough. this truck slid and jackknifed to the side of this highway in near whiteout conditions in kansas this week. police posted the video to remind people to slow down. >> good reminder. police say the driver of a truck that crashed through the airport in sarasota, florida, may have been under the influence. that truck came crashing through the wall and into the baggage claim area. the driver suffered serious injuries. two people working at the car rental desk that you see there barely avoided getting hit.

the truck stopped just inches away from them. >> we estimate right now he had to be going somewhere near 100 miles an hour. the truck actually went through the cinderblock wall and then across baggage claim and hit the counter at the rental car counter. >> police think the driver may have been impaired or suffered a medical problem. a jury has awarded nearly $9 million to the family of a stuntman who died on the set of "the walking dead." the film and production company were found negligent for the death of new zealand stuntman john bernecker in 2017. he fell head first from a balcony and landed on concrete. his family thinks it may have been because of safety failures. you may want to think twice about working overtime. a new study warns overtime is bad for your blood pressure. researchers found people who worked more than 49 hours per week have a 66% higher chance of getting hypertension. but if you need to work long hours, doctors say try wearing a

heart monitor so you can check your blood pressure on a regular basis. do you hear that, kenneth? >> 49? you're way under. how far would you go to find your missing dog? a san francisco woman is offering a $7,000 reward. you thought that was funny, right? emile talermo has also rented a plane to fly a banner. her miniature australian shepherd jackson has been missing since saturday. she's handed out thousands of flyers and put his photo on the dating app tinder. >> i get it. you're saying i don't work very much. that's not funny. all right, coming up, pat sajak tells us what happened just before his medical emergency. but first home for the holidays. why a man is finally walking free after spending decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. and caught on camera, a man trapped in a burning car. what officers did to save him. what officers did to save him. cute cat, what do you feed her? tilly gets blue buffalo. she loves the taste. roxy lapps up her meow mix. so they're both great tasting, but do you look at the ingredients? yeah. of course.

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apart this neighborhood in philadelphia. these images are incredible. three homes were leveled. more than 100 firefighters responded. witnesses say they smelled gas in the area. and we turn now to the man who is home for the holidays 30 years after being wrongly convicted of murder. >> a judge set him free after a special prosecutor took a closer look at the evidence. >> hey. >> reporter: a moment this illinois family has been waiting nearly 30 years for. >> it's good to see you on this side. >> reporter: demond weston walked out of prison after prosecutors dropped a decade's old murder conviction against him. >> oh, my god. the air is much better on this side, i promise you that. >> reporter: weston has maintained his innocence since 1990 when he was charged with murder and attempted murder.

he said he only confessed to the crime after being tortured during a 12-hour interrogation by disgraced chicago police commander jon burge. burge who has since died spent three years in prison for torturing suspects in the '70s and '80s. this year weston's legal team asked a special prosecutor to revisit the case. after an investigation a report found his claim of torture was unsubstantiated, but the prosecutors found the evidence does not meet the burden of a beyond a reasonable doubt. this morning, weston and his family are now making plans for his first christmas home since he was 17. >> the first christmas in almost 30 years. >> we're going to do it big for christmas. >> anything that's cooked on a skillet, put on a plate and just served with love. i just -- it doesn't matter what it is. just something that's not in a vending machine. >> "the chicago sun-times" reports weston agreed not to sue the city but could still file suit against police.

a texas man is thanking some houston sheriff's deputies for saving his life, pulling him from a burning car. the dramatic rescue captured on body cam video here. the man fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a tree. the car then burst into flames but he couldn't get out because his leg was pinned beneath the dash board. >> we might have to break your leg, bro. i'm sorry. >> no, no, no. >> all i can say is it was an act of god because there was no way i could from when we were messing with it, we couldn't -- there was no movement and all of a sudden his foot slid out. >> i got saved right in time. i barely made it out. >> they cut his pants to free him. he probroke his leg, nose and e socket. he is expected to recover. we are hearing from pat sajak for the first time since his medical emergency. he suffered a blockage that

forced him into surgery. he tells our paula faris he's feeling great and is back at work, but he spoke about the moment he knew something was wrong. >> my daughter maggie and i, we took a walk as we traditionally do early, and i came home to get ready to go to work and suddenly i had this horrific pain in my stomach and obviously didn't know what it is but within 2 1/2 hours i was in surgery. i mean, it was that quick. i mean my blood pressure had fallen dramatically. they had to wait till it lifted a bit so they could do the surgery. yeah, i mean, no one knew. it was tough on leslie, my wife, and our daughter was with me and they were -- you know, they didn't know. you go in and they don't know if i'm coming out. >> later on "gma" the iconic "wheel of fortune" host tells us how much longer he wants to host the show. well, up next in "the pulse," the new miss america. also ahead, a real catfight over the new movie "cats." and the family who found an owl, a real owl in their christmas tree. >> who. >> who.

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♪ it's time to check "the pulse," and we begin with some disastrous reviews for the new movie "cats." >> the film based on the broadway show is getting panned. one review says it's an all-time disaster. another says nine lives may not be enough for the actors to recover from it. >> yikes. one review says the characters look like laboratory mutants put through a snapchat filter. but analysts say "cats" could still be a hit. >> this is not a critic sensitive movie, right? this is not a critic sensitive show. i mean, again, it was savaged back in the day. show me anybody who likes it. i mean, it's a guilty pleasure and people will go for that very reason. >> meow.

"cats" has a 19% splat on rotten tomatoes. well, a brand-new miss america has been crowned and she's breaking the mold. >> the revamped competition no longer judges women on how they look in a swim suit or evening gown, and here she is. 2020 winner, camille schrier, a 24-year-old biochemist from virginia and wowed the crowd with this. a colorful chemistry experiment. pretty cool. some sea lions living their best life. >> they were rocking a boat in washington state, so don't come a-knocking. >> the boat appears close to flipping over from all that weight. another sea lion tries to join the party, but they brush him off. and finally this is not what you expect to see when rocking around the christmas tree. >> a georgia woman found this owl in her tree and her daughter first thought the owl was an ornament. >> animal control thinks the owl was already in the tree when the

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talk to your doctor about chantix. making news right now, a deadly playground mystery. a scene so scarring even first responders need counseling. we dig for nls as answers. and plus rumors of ray a shal harassment through the halls of a hfs aigh school and why some students say they can't focus. and gloves come off between pete buttigieg and elizabeth warren last night. we have the big takeaways here. and good morning on this friday december 20th, obviously we're getting ready for the holidays. >> i'm excited. >> me too. >> am i the only one here next

week? >> no, i'm here, but the fab four are not together. >> so this is our christmas. >> i'm looking forward to the food. >> stove top. >> get that box and microwave ramped up. less than a quarter mile visibility, so we have dense fog to talk about in the inland valleys. temperatures run from the mid 40s to around the low 50s from about wi 43 fairfield. and so we'll have high clouds and sunshine, a partly sunny day. it will be dry with temperatures ranging from 57 in napa to san jose at 63. let's check out the commute. good morning, so want to start off with a look at our drive times. green across the board. dublin to mission boulevard, a

1 14 minute ride. the overall green showing you that we don't really have any major you issues on our roads, but if you are taking the bay bridge this morning, there is a fog advisory right now, it was much foggier a few moments ago, so passing through quickly and hopefully it will clean up by the time you get out the door. and this morning counselors will be available to talk to students and staff of a san rafael school that lost a young boy yesterday. he died after some sort of incident on the play ground. >> such a traumatic event for the school community and first responders. it happened yesterday afternoon at mark day school. amy hollyfield is live at the school. >> reporter: good morning. this section of the campus will it happened will be completely roped off and closed today during school. this happened yesterday around 1:00 at the mark day school in san rafael, it is an independent private school here in the north bay. police have not said what happened to the boy, only that

there was an accident out on the yard and that the student died. a retired firefighter was at the school, he was at an event when this happened. >> it is tragic. being a first responder and in the fire department for 30 years, that was our toughest call. it flashes back to times that were real difficult calls. tough for the parents and everybody involved. and our first responders. i feel for them too. >> reporter: the school put out a statement saying members of our staff witnessed the accident immediately called 911 and did their best to provide care for the student. san rafael has not released any more details. we do know that counselors will be here on campus to help