making news in america this morning -- fall freeze. a taste of winter in mid october. up to nine inches of snow in some areas. and the coldest temperatures in months. we're tracking it all. a new battle brewing in the race for the white house. donald trump versus jeb bush. at odds over september 11th. and who is to blame for those attacks. the back and forth playing out in a series of interviews and campaign videos. survival story. two people walking away from this fiery airplane crash. >> it was so fast. >> so fast. >> it just happened too quick. >> detailing the quick thinking that kept them alive in an

and "star wars, the force awakens." the juls-released movie poster. where you'll sigh the first full trailer today and when you can buy tickets. good monday morning, everyone. for millions of people this like december has already arrived. >> yes, as frost and freeze to the deep south. upstate new york is is covered in heavy snow. it's dragging down powerlines. >> the fans at week end football games shivered in the stands. in buffalo for the bills-bengals game, they bundled up. as the flakes came down. how long will it last? here's abc's stephanie ramos. >> reporter: it's beginning to look a lot like winter. the weather is changing on us fast. just last week, near syracuse, new york. this is what it looked like. a week later, this. >> i woke up this morning and i thought it was christmas.

but the coldest air mass of the season has already swept from the midwest into parts of the east. across upstate new york, a blast of winter bringing dangerous conditions. more than 50 accidents in syracuse blamed, in part, on icy roads. snow collecting on this backyard deck. nine inches so far. another backyard buried under the snow. kids aren't complaining. >> i have not seen snow this early in a long time. >> reporter: the snow also falling early in parts of upper michigan. but in dprand rapids, just plain cold. temps in the mid 30s didn't stop these dedicated marathon runners. >> it's good weather to run in. this is great weather to run in. >> reporter: thousands of runners taking the weather in stride. forecasters say despite the chilly temps and snow already falling in parts of the country, a first frost like this is not unusual.

these cold temps will linger today. it will warm up later this week. get ready to ditch the cold weather gear. stephanie ramos, abc news, washington. >> ditch them? i never broke them out. >> it's freezing in here in the studio. >> we didn't expect it to be this cold this early. there's also extreme weather in the southwest. phoenix pummeled by large, damaging hail. >> and as you can see here, it was somewhere between the size of a quarter and a golf ball. the hailstorm kicked up the water in this swimming pool here. it looks like snow covered the lawn. >> on radar, you see the storms moving through arizona and the rockies. downpours expected today in the pacific northwest from seattle to portland. now to the race for the white house heating up with a bitter war of words between two candidates. >> a new round of attacks on the republican side. donald trump and jeb bush sounding off about 9/11. it's "your voice, your vote." more from devin dwyer. >> reporter: it's a feud few republicans expected to see. donald trump and jeb bush going at it over 9/11.

>> jeb said, we were safe with my brother. we were safe. well, the world trade center just fell down. >> reporter: jeb bush fired back in a new campaign video and on tv. >> it looks like he's an actor playing the role of a candidate for president, not boning up on the issues. >> reporter: the controversy began last week when trump sukted in an sprir that george w bush might be to blame for the 9/11 attacks. >> when you talk about george bush. say what you want. the world trade center came down during his time. >> hold on, you can't blame him. >> reporter: he says he wasn't placing blame but that a tougher stance on immigration would have stopped the 9/11 hijackers. >> mr. trump talks about things apprentice." >> reporter: on the democratic side, all eyes remain on vice president joe biden. >> it may be the greatest honor i have ever received in my public life. >> reporter: and still no word on the race for president. democratic front-runner hillary

interested in adding pressure. >> i'm not in any way suggesting or recommending that the vice president accept any timetable other than the one that is clicking inside of him. he has to make this decision. >> reporter: a decision that could come in the next few days. devin dwyer, abc news, washington. turning our focus overseas. another weekend of bloodshed in the middle east as tensions continue to escalate. a palestinian attacker opened fire at a bus stop in southern israel yesterday, killing an israeli soldier and wounding ten other people before being shot and killed. and israel put up a 15-foot-high wall separating jewish and arab neighborhoods in east jerusalem. secretary of state john kerry is meeting with leaders from both sides later this week. and in syria, a top al qaeda commander was killed in a drone strike. al na is zr was the head of a supersecret al qaeda cell that

plotted attacks in the u.s. and europe. he was also involved in the group's finances. the landmark and controversial nuclear deal with iran is in effect. it could be months before the crippling saxs are lifted on iran. iran has to prove to international inspectors that it's serious about cutting back on the nuclear program. even so, the iranian vice president says his country is bracing for a tsunami of tourism once the saxs are gone. a minnesota town is mourning a sheriff's deputy who was killed with his own gun when a hospitalized suspect grabbed it. the suspect got out of his hospital bed and struggled with the deputy before shooting him. hospital security officers tased the patient. he later died. police say the suspect was not under arrest at the time and was not handcuffed. former nba star lamar odom is said to be improving at a las vegas hospital this morning. he's been there since being found unconscious last tuesday at a brothel. a family member told us last

night that owe odom is is doing very well. on friday, reportedly speaking with family and gave a thumbs up. the results of toxicology tests which should shed light on his episode, are still pending. president obama planning an historic trip next year. he'll visit laos. the first american president to travel there. in 2012, hillary clinton became the first u.s. secretary of state to pay a visit since 1955. president obama has increasingly directed his foreign policy attention to countries in asia. well, coming up, a big change coming to the use of personal drones. and, aware alert. stopping a kidnaps. an offseason gig for alex rodriguez. his first day on the job and it doesn't go as planned.

today, the government is announcing a plan to require people to register their drones. a task force will be implemented it could go into effect by christmas. an estimated 500,000 drones are already in the air. the skies about to get buzzier. another 750,000 drones expected to be sold this christmas. the massive air bag recall is still growing. general motors is recalling about 400 new vehicles. it's a small number. but the first to include 2015 gm models. certain buicks, cadillacs, chevy malibus have air bags that

could explode when deployed. vehicles already recalled. amazon is suing more than 1,000 people for posting fake reviews on its website. the company is targeting people who sell reviews on the website fiver.com, where people look for odd jobs. in april, amazon sued several other websites for the same most of them are shut down. it was a weekend for "goose bumps" at the box office. the family friendly horror flick starring jack black beat all the competition, taking in $23.5 million. that was just $2 million ahead of "the martian." "bridge of spies" starring tom hanks was third. >> "the martian" still doing very well. when we come back, hidden remains. a 400-year-old church suddenly reemerging. and hope fading for cubs fans. another dominating performance by the mets. playoff highlights from espn.

this is a look at spectators at a houston air show. they watch as a skydiver fell to earth, unable to steer because of high winds. three others were supposed to jump with him. the stunt was called off after he had already taken the leap. he landed on a vendor's tent, breaking a limb, but otherwise okay. now for a look at morning road conditions. take extra caution from the southwest up through the rockies. wet roads possible from

if you're flying, airport delays possible in salt lake city and miami. a killer remains on the loose this morning after a deadly shooting in ft. myers, florida, at a zombie themed street festival. >> a 20-year-old man was killed and five others wounded at zombicon. 20,000 people had gathered for the event. there's no word on a possible motive. a texas teenager is the sixth high school football player to die this season. 16-year-old cameron matthews was a junior in high school. during a football game friday night, he told teammates he felt dizzy and then collapsed on the side line. he was air-lifted to the hospital where he died on saturday. the exact cause of his death is not yet known. mourners returned to the stadium for a vigil saturday night. a couple from texas is telling their harrowing story of survival exclusively to abc news. as they narrowly escaped a fiery airplane crash.

landing in their small plane. this is just south of dallas. when something wasn't right. they were able to deploy a huge entire aircraft. wrong with the plane. i was trying to control it. next moment, i saw the line. i realized, i wept nt up to grab the handle for the parachute, but, my wife had already pulled it. parachute definitely saved our lives. >> wow. the parachute caught on power lines and prevented the airplane from making contact. the couple, by the way, can't wait to get back in the air with a new plane, equipped with a parachute of course. more from an exclusive interview on "good morning america" today. >> what an ordeal. in california, a little girl is safe and back with her family thanks to an observant school employee. teacher's aide sandra ferguson single-handedly foiled a kidnapping when she spotted a former student in a car with a strange man. the 11-year-old looking scared. after questioning the girl about

the man, she blocked him in with got the girl out, and called police. >> it was kind of like a superwoman power thing. it was like, wow, i can't believe i did that. >> i'll buy that superwoman power thing. we like it. the 51-year-old man was arrested on attempted kidnapping charges. the girl was not hurt. just in time for halloween. a ghostly sight, you might say, at a mexican reservoir. check this out. a 16th century church submerged for years has reappeared. a lack of rain has drawn the water level down more than 80 feet. it's believed the church was abandoned when a devastating plague swept through. it's the second time in recent years that the church has been revealed. the last time the water was so low, people could walk inside. absolutely freaky. well, now some sports. the american league championship series resumes tonight in toronto. the blue jays trail the royals, two games to nothing. >> and in new york last night, game two of the national league

championship series. and new york native jimmy kimmel threw the ceremonial first pitch. he actually did pretty well with his toss. we get details on the game and some football from our guys at espn. john buccigross. john anderson. a new week is upon us. chilly over the weekend. the sports continued. >> we have game two of the nlcs. >> played outdoors. >> or patriots-colts. hat should we start with? what do you think? football? you like the football? >> let's find out together. >> there's the greatest living american, tom brady. a little deflategate revenge. the indy folks were creative. patriots trail, 21 hf -20, coming out of the locker room in the third. oh, tommy hit rob gronkowski. his 60th. 60 times he's gotten to spike like that. pats up 27-21. would not trail again. tommy. looking, looking. legarrette blount. he's caught two passes this season. that one for a touchdown.

>> the first of his career. for legarrette blount. i'll shut up and do my own highlights. daniel murphy grew up in florida. however, he doesn't mind hitting in the cold weather. he homers again. he's homered in four straight games in this post season for the mets. he's the greatest hitter in the world right now. >> yep. >> gets the mets off to a good start. they go on to win, they beat the cubs. they're up 2-0 in the nlcs. plus the next three games will be played in chicago. those fans will be loud. just like in new york. hey, they could win three if a row. it's happened before. also, the heat beat the hawks in a preseason game. that's what we got. >> thanks to the johns. new york yankees slugger alex rodriguez is joining fox's post baseball coverage. after being introduced on that network's nfl pregame show, he proceeded to throw a pass that broke a monitor. >> he was a high school quarterback and got a scholarship offer from the

university of miami. he tweeted, i'll try not to break anything else. >> let's hope. and how is this for treating an injured player? this happened at a soccer game in greece. >> the stretcher bearer drops, twice on their own field. they just throw him down. but they get to the side. a trainer from the player's team seems to say that something is wrong. they don't want to hear. it was really a tough day. it's just rough to watch. >> can we give them a red flag, a red card? >> yeah, you're right. >> it's pretty bad. well, up next in "the pulse." eddie murphy's return. telling his first joke on stage in nearly three decades. and terrifying crash. a mountain biker goes tumbling

it is time to check "the pulse."

big night for eddie murphy, accepting the nation's top award for humor. >> he was honored at the kennedy center last night with the mark twain prize. he did something he's not done for nearly 30 years. standup. murphy surprised the crowd with an impersonation of bill cosby, pretending to be the disgraced comedian, refusing to give back his award. >> a change of heart from murphy since turning down the chance to do cosby for the 40th anniversary special of "saturday night live." there was no bride or groom at a recent wedding reception. but the guests will always remember it. >> this is cool. the dwayne family booked a reception at a high-end hotel. but days before, the groom called it off. >> boy, did this have a price tag. $35,000 nonrefundable. instead of letting the reception go to waste, the dwaynes ditched

the guest list and invited residents of a homeless shelter to join the meal. the hype machine is cranking up ahead of the new "star wars" movie. right about now. >> orks oh, looking forward to this one. the official theater poster was released. featured prominently were the likes of han solo, princess leia, and chewbacca. luke skywalker nowhere to be seen. >> interesting. and tonight, a new "star wars" trailer is released during half time of "monday night football." "star wars" is from our parent company, disney. mountain bike competitor. he just set off on a qualifying round in the red bull rampage competition in utah when he lost control and tumbled down the side of a cliff. >> his helmet camera recorded what he saw as he fell. he got back up and got back on the bike and finished the run. he didn't qualify for the final round. seeing what they had to deal

with, it's amazing any of them survived.

our top stories this morning. donald trump and jeb bush going at it again. this time, trump claiming 9/11 may not have happened had he been president. challenging bush's claim that his brother kept the country safe. and bush firing back with a new video. more violence in israel. a palestinian attacker killed an israeli soldier and wounded ten people. and israel hastily erected a wall between jewish and arab neighborhoods in east jerusalem, hoping to stop the attacks. up to nine inches of snow on the ground along parts of the great lakes this morning. temperatures in most of the east will be below average. but a warmup on the way. and in today's weather. rain in the pacific northwest and in the rockies from montana to arizona. we move on to an amazing

an army veteran in illinois recovering at home following his heroic intervention against a knife-wielding assailant. >> he says some military training from decades ago helped him save a group of children. abc's david wright has the details. >> sending units to the library. >> reporter: at a public library in illinois, a violent attack by a man wielding at least two hunting knives. >> they do have the knives. he has cut another person who has a pretty good hand injury. >> reporter: 19-year-old dustin brown allegedly burst into the room screaming, i'm going to kill some people. that's when he met his match. >> good morning. >> reporter: 75-year-old james vernon was teaching a chess class at the library. >> i thought first this is a really bad halloween prank. then i realized this was the real thing. >> reporter: he put himself between the would-be attacker and the 16 kids. >> i gave them the cue and they took the cue.

just like little mice down the hole, they were gone. >> reporter: the children, ages 7 to 13, all escaped unharmed. mom sandy rossi got out, too. >> kids were afraid. i was afraid. >> reporter: vernon was all alone. the attacker turned on him. >> he went overhand. i blocked with the left hand. >> reporter: brown is now charged with attempted murder. he was already facing 22 counts of child pornography. >> i thought maybe i could persuade him to just give up the whole idea and -- that wasn't to be. >> reporter: vernon's hand was slashed in the attack. he's expected to make a full recovery. at church -- >> take a moment, please. >> reporter: -- the congregation greeted him as a hero. david wright, abc news, new york. >> a hero as he should be greeted. >> way to go, vernon. his 76th birthday next week. and that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good