abc's karen travers looks back at his extraordinary life. >> as a statesman, fighter pilot, and astronaut, john glenn had a knack for being at the right place at the right time, with the right stuff. >> i guess i've looked at my whole life as being of service to my country. >> the son of a plumber and schoolteacher, glenn was born and raised in ohio, where he met and married his childhood sweetheart, annie. in 1942, he quit college for the military, and as a highly-decorated marine pilot, flew dozens of missions in the flew dozens of missions in the pacific during world war two. in the korean war, his co-pilot was baseball legend ted williams. >> as the as cannot prepares for spaceflight. >> -- as the astronaut repairs for spaceflight. >> after years as a test pilot, glenn was selected in 1959 to be one of nasa's original seven mercury astronauts. he became the first american to orbit the earth. >> oh, that view is tremendous. >> despite technical problems aboard friendship 7, glenn made three orbits and landed safely.

followed. he became, quite simply, an american hero. >> and i'm certainly glad to see that pride in our country and its accomplishments are not a thing of the past. >> in 1964, glenn left the space program for politics. after two failed u.s. senate bids, glenn won a seat in 1974. he became a capitol hill fixture, spearheading policy in the areas of nuclear arms control and foreign affairs. but glenn had his share of political disappointments, including a failed run for the 1984 democratic presidential nomination, and a 1990 senate investigation into his ties to corrupt financier charles keating. glenn was eventually cleared of wrongdoing. after 24 years in washington, he left the senate, but not the spotlight. >> and liftoff off of discovery with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. >> in 1998, the 77-year-old glenn returned to space after 36 years. criticized by some as a nasa p.r. stunt, glenn's nine-day mission aboard the shuttle discovery

weightlessness on aging and inspired seniors around the world. >> one thing i promised annie the day we were married, in addition to our wedding vows of course, was i would do everything i could to keep life from being boring. >> following his second historic spaceflight, glenn remained in the public eye. he'll be remembered as a pioneer, a leader, and a man who seemed happiest when he was serving his country. for john glenn, it was an amazing ride. karen travers, abc news, washington. joyce: in a statement today, president barack obama said "john always had the right stuff, inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to mars and beyond." and this, from house speaker paul ryan, "on behalf of the house, i extend my deepest sympathies to annie and the entire glenn family, may his memory live on every time we look up at the stars." breaking news, milwaukee county election officials have finished their recount. the county will tabulate and

tomorrow. according to the latest information from that commission, 48 of the 72 counties in wisconsin are now finished. there are no reports of significant changes in vote totals so far. turning to weatherwatch 12 first , the cold, then the snow. let's check in with chief meteorologist mark baden. mark: your friday morning will be a tough one to take. give it a month or so, and this will not feel all that bad, a passing flurryr 20 and 25 degrees, now let's focus on the weekend, because we do have a one-to-three punch. saturday night, the first round, snow, not as wet as the snow previously. the roads are colder, road temperatures colder. it will be more slippery on the roads as we head into saturday night, so keep that in mind if you have lands.

and by midmorning on sunday, we will see the next round move in of the lighter snow, light to moderate snow continuing through sunday into sunday evening, sunday night, possibly monday morning as well. on tuesday, be ready for this, because it will be the coldest air by far so far this season, temperatures dropping, a couple of snow showers as this cold front moves in, but the bigger story will be next week. the lucky to get to double digits for highs, and likely our first below zero temperatures, not including windchills. windchills maybe 25 below next week. joyce: thank you, mark. snow and ice are being blamed for this fatal pile-up near lansing, michigan. three people were killed, and nearly a dozen more are hurt, after about 40 vehicles slammed into each other on interstate 96. that stretch of road was closed for nearly five and a half hours today. back here at home four people , killed by gunfire in

and florist was a double homicide. as 12 news nick bohr shows us, officers found a man and woman shot to death in a home and two children hiding in a closet. >> police officers spent hours on the scene on appleton at florist, where inside this duplex they found the bodies of a 36-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman. they'd both been shot to death. >> a father, family man, loving, caring father. >> the man's cousin who didn't want to be identified told our hillary mintz the other woman was the male victim's significant other. >> he comes from a huge family full of love and support, so it this time, i don't have a clue on what could possibly have happened. i just know that i have lost a family member. >> police found an elementary school age child and another about 16 inside the home as they responded. police telling us they found the kids hiding. they didn't have any injuries. milwaukee police are still searching for a motive. in the daylight, evidence

doors of the home, as well as near the knob on the main door. a side window has also been dusted for fingerprints, a possible entry or point for an intruder. so far, milwaukee police aren't releasing the names of the victims or any possible theories on why they were killed. joyce: he said the police haven't said how the children are related to the two victims. milwaukee police are also investigating a fatal shooting near 36th and thurston. we first brought you this story when it was ki a man was found shot to death in his car which had crashed into a , house. police are also investigating a double shooting near 52nd and green tree. when officers arrived on the scene around 3:30 this morning they found a 34-year-old man and , a 32-year-old woman, both had been shot. the woman was taken to a hospital. she is expected to survive. the man died at the scene. a milwaukee man apologizes in court for his role in the death of five-year-old laylah petersen.

her grandfather's lap when a bullet flew into their house two years ago and killed her. police say the gunmen meant to attack a rival, but hit the wrong house. today, a judge sentenced arlis gordon to 30 years behind bars, and 19 years extended supervision. >> i would like to give my condolences to the family and the friends of laylah petersen, not only because of the tragic incident, but because i too, , know the feeling of losing a loved one close to me. joyce: sentenced in the crime. the other shooter, carl barrett, was sentenced to 65 years in prison just last week. paul farr, the getaway driver, received five years' probation. just over a month before his inauguration, president-elect donald trump is coming to wisconsin. he will hold a rally tuesday night at 7:00 at the expo center at state fair park. it's part of the president-elect's thank you tour, visiting battleground states that he won in november. you can still register for tickets. we have the link posted on the

begin his presidency with the lowest approval rating in years. a new pew research poll says just 41% of americans think trump is doing a good job laying out his future plans. the results are largely along party lines getting high marks , from republicans and low marks from democrats. by comparison, president obama entered the white house with a 72% approval rating. george w. bush had 50%, and bill clinton had 62%. not entirely cut his ties with hollywood while in the white house. news tonight that he will be executive producer of the new "celebrity apprentice. -- celebrity apprentice." it's not clear what exactly his role will be. trump starred on the show for several years. arnold schwarzenegger will take over those duties when the show returns next month. right in the middle of holiday shopping season, a lawsuit is

, as abc's rebecca jarvis shows us, they're accused of making you believe you're getting a better deal than you actually are. >> tonight four of the largest , department store chains in the country macy's, jc penney, sears , and kohl's sued by the los angeles city attorney. >> today i'm announcing that we , filed four lawsuits against some of the nation's leading retailers. >> for allegedly using false reference pricing, that is setting original prices of merchandise higher to make customers think they were getting deeper discounts and better deals. the allegations including a swim top advertised at jc penney with an original price of $46 and a sale price of $31.99, allegedly -- -- supposedly a 30% discount. but according to the suit, the top was never on sale online for more than $31.99. under california law, businesses cannot publicize higher original prices unless items have been on sale at those prices within three months of the advertisement.

to abc's request for a comment about this story. that was the sound as the doors opened to customers for the first time at the brand new chick-fil-a in west allis. dozens of people braved the overnight cold to be among the first 100 in line to get free meals for a year. >> pacing, trying to keep warm. just trying to enjoy combo meals, because i love more chicken. eat more chicken. joyce: the restaurant at highway 100 and cleveland is the franchise's third milwaukee area location. looking ahead now to a couple of events to get you in the mood of the season, the milwaukee ice fishing show opens tomorrow at state fair park. check out the latest gear, and get advice from the experts. admission is nine dollars for adults, four dollars for kids between six and 12, and free for those five and under. this is the third year for the show. and music lovers may want to head over to u.w. waukesha tomorrow night.

winter concert. it starts at 7:30 at the lunt fontanne theater. admission is five dollars. students at several u.w. schools will pay more for tuition next school year. the board of regents this afternoon approved raising tuition for out of state undergrads and graduate students. the campuses affected include madison, milwaukee, eau claire, la crosse, green bay, and stout, plus all two-year schools. students at uw madison will see the largest increase, $4000 a year. the schools say they need the extra money because of the governors now four-year freeze on in-state undergraduate tuition. thousands of jobs are coming to the new arena district. what the milwaukee bucks are doing to help you prepare if you don't think you are qualified. you've probably never heard of a seeing eye camel, and this one

his radical skin. seen on tape, allegedly landing a hit on her husband to chi said it was a game.

joyce: if you're looking for a job, the milwaukee bucks are looking for you. the team is trying to connect people to what they call family-supporting careers in the

as wisn 12 news' terry sater shows us, they're talking about as many as 3,000 jobs over a two-year period. >> one of our big promises was that we would be creating jobs for the city. >> bucks senior vice president alex lasry says his goal is to make sure at least 40% of the jobs on the arena construction site are filled by local workers. a new website was launched today to help make it happen bucks -- make it happen, >> so this site allows you to create a profile and connects your skills with specific jobs on the construction site. >> and if you're not already qualified for a job on the site, the skill smart website will help you get the education you need. >> create your profile and you see that you want to be a brick layer, it'll tell you exactly what you need to do to make sure that you're qualified for that position. >> one goal is to bring new people to the construction industry that can find jobs beyond the arena. >> we'll be able to get qualified candidates for construction jobs that might not only be for the arena site where we can then refer them to other

i mean, downtown milwaukee is booming right now. joyce: he says that the second part of the job connection project is to place people in long-term jobs for the arena and the entertainment district. both are scheduled to open late summer of 2018. a disturbing new report about drug-related deaths. according to the centers for disease control, some 50,000 americans died from drug overdoses last year. that's the most ever. prescription drugs are blamed for the largest number of those deaths, but synthetic opioid the previous year. another report from the cdc shows that life expectancy in the united states is down. the average baby born in 2015 can expect to live 78.8 years, down from 78.9 years for babies born in 2014. the report says the rising rate of obesity is behind the change. life expectancy estimates have only dropped three times since 1980.

shipped 500 miles survives. this is joey, who somehow fell onto a package as it was being shrink-wrapped in chicago. he was shipped to memphis. when a delivery driver heard meowing coming from the back of his truck, he investigated, found the cat, and took him to a vet right away. joey is only 5-7 weeks old and didn't have access to food or water for the last week, but remarkably, he suffered no injuries. he has been adopted and should be well enough to go to his new home in about a week. , one animal helping another. a horse named dolly has a seeing-eye camel named caesar. both live at a petting zoo. caesar started sticking close to dolly when she lost her sight helping her find her way around. , now, they're pretty much inseparable. >> if we take them out to bring him somewhere, she is always looking for him and he is looking back for her. joyce: the owner says the two animals actually help each other since the horse keeps the camel

everybody needs a friend. coming up and sports the , franchise record the greek freak is moving closer to after last night's bucks win. plus the badgers shooting for , revenge this weekend against the golden eagles. stephanie sutton is next in sports. but here are tonight's winning

announcer: big 12 sports presented by menards. >> you have got to try, you are not going to shut them out, but if you can do a good job where they are shooting below 50%

yourself in a better position to win. stephanie: that's head coach steve wojociechowski today talking about what marquette needs to do to beat wisconsin. and the 17th ranked badgers have a bone to pick with their instate rival this weekend. on saturday afternoon, the two programs will meet for their 123rd time, but this time at the bmo harris bradley center in downtown milwaukee. the golden eagles have claimed three of the last five meetings, including a 57-55 upset over the badgers last season at the kohl center. that was a tgh last year, so this time around, they're hoping to win back some bragging rights. >> there has been some really good games in the past, both programs with really good players. last year, young team without identity. i'm grateful to have another opportunity this year. >> the fans always come out on both sides, whether milwaukee or madison, there is always a good turnout.

play. stephanie: yes, that was nigel hayes making silly faces in the background. the bucks host the atlanta hawks tomorrow night at the bmo harris bradley center for the first time this season. milwaukee playing very well lately, and this player has a lot to do with it. at just 22 years old, giannis antetokounmpo is closing in on one of kareem abdul jabbar's franchise records. the greek freak got his second triple double of the season last night in the bucks win over the trail blazers. giannis had 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists for his seventh ca -- in the franchise behind abdul-jabbar's eight. he could tie the record tomorrow night against the hawks. finally, first place in the afc west was on the line, second quarter, alex smith goes back and fires one deep to hill,

in fact, all points were scored in the second quarter. kansas in control tonight, hanging on to win 21-13. as for the packers and the seahawks, they play this sunday. the packers have done well against the seahawks in lambeau field. perhaps that can continue. joyce: russell wilson was talking about how excited he will be because snowing. we will have a final look at the forecast coming up. then, after this newscast, "jimmy kimmel live." guests tonight include jennifer

joyce: this is the kind of forecast you like. it will be interesting this weekend. mark: this is the kind of forecast that makes me lose my hair. not tomorrow. it is just cold, 25, average high 35. three days in a row with temperatures below average with three months in a row above

on saturday, the snow moves in, continues into the weekend.

?jimmy kimmel live?! >> dicky: from hollywood - it's ?jimmy kimmel live?! tonight, jennifer aniston, director tom ford, this week in and the trailer of spiderman home front. this week in unnecessary censorship, and and now, get it together, here's jimmy kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] ? ? [ applause ] >> jimmy: hi, i'm jim jimmy, i'm host of the show. thank you for watching. glad to have you.