. making news in america this morning -- digital dilemma. companies scrambling to make sure they're not the next cyber attack victim. as fallout from pulling the interview continues and the new revelation from george clooney. what he tried to do to get the movie in theaters. a storm with dangerous conditions for people getting to their christmas destinations. tracking it all. downhill danger. a skateboarder speeding down a hill coming in the path of a bus. final report. stephen colbert's star-studded good-bye before his next big gig. ♪

well, good friday morning. we begin with one of the top names in hollywood speaking out about the sony hacking scandal. >> george clooney tried to get the heads of other studios to sign a petition in support of sony. they were afraid of the hackers, he said. >> and it's following new developments. here's susan saulny. >> topic a in hollywood is this hack and its impact, not just on so sony. >> reporter: this morning, company on high alert to avoid being the next giant brought to its knees by hackers like that against sony pictures. >> you work at any studio and network, could this have been me? >> reporter: a sony hack was carried out by a sophisticated actor with malicious intent. it was designed to mask its origin. although federal investigators say they are working for north korea. it was routed through infected

computers in singapore, tailand, italy, bolivia and cypress. it's because the north koreans are angry about a picture about the assassination of their leader. they canceled it after the threat against the movie go gogoer s. >> i would not have gone. >> reporter: many wonder with the real victim is free speech. rob lowe tweeting, wow, everyone caved, the hackers won. and steve carell, sad day for creative expression. senator john mccain said in a statement that sony's decision set a troubling precedent that will only empower and embolden bad actors. president obama is weighing a response for what the administration considers a national security threat. >> susan saulny live in washington. thank you. and a better morning commute in kansas city today than

yesterday. >> yeah, several inches of snow there, coating roadways, making it slick. driving got a little better once the plows cleared the roads and the vehicles were less on the roads. >> the students and the teachers have to come back today for one day before the christmas break. >> reporter: and travelers are about to hit the road. >> check in with accuweather's jim dickey. >> good morning. big travel day heading into the christmas week. there are issues out there. an area of low pressure rolling off the east coast. rain from the i-95 corridor from jacksonville to philadelphia. heavy rain and snow, and continuing until northwest. snow in the mountains, and rain, nosing down towards san francisco. that as we look forward towards christmas eve. in particular the set up in place for a major storm system. not set in stone just yet. at the very least, if you have travel plans, be checking in on

this. gusty winds, heavy rain, even snow causing widespread travel delays. reena and t.j., back to you. a disturbing story developing overnight out of australia. eight children have been found stabbed to death in the home they found with their mother. the victims range in age from 18 months to 15 years. the mother was found alive but suffering from stab wounds. of course, the tragedy comes as the country is still grieving over the attack on a cafe in sydney earlier this week. and pakistan is making good on promises to intensify the campaign against militants. this morning it announced 60 had been killed in military operations in the last day. it's just days after taliban suicide bombers attacked a military school killing nearly 150 people, mostly children. >> air strikes in iraq have take an toll on isis. the leader, seen there, lost three senior leaders in recent

weeks. among those killed, the group's top military commander in iraq. dzhokhar tsarnaev seen in public for the first time in 15 months. he told a judge he was happy with the legal team that will defend him. at least 14 of the bombing victims came to court. some tsarnaev supporters were there. she told reporters in english what she said. >> we pray for you and hear for you, we know you are innocent. be strong, son. that's what i said. >> outside the hearing, a victim confronted a group of the supporters by waving his prosthetic limb at them. jury selection could take a month. ment and innocent in september when an armed manmade it in the white house.

officers. the director was forced to resign following that incident. and president obama and the first family leave for annual christmas vacation in hawaii. the president will hold his annual year end news conference. taking questions from reporters before departing to oahu for 17 days. abc will carry that news conference live at 1:30 p.m. eastern. it's official now that the huge fire in downtown los angeles has been declared an arson. that's the word from investigators about an unfinished apartment building. there was extensive damage to a freeway and other buildings. they are looking for two men who may be witnesses. and huge flames from a chevron refinery causing alarm for people in northern california. this smoke and flames were seen for miles, they are part of the normal operation and pose no threat to the public.

and shoppers may not be the only arrives at a shopping center, lava is half a mile away. it could reach the strip mall late wednesday. it only moves a few dozen yards a day. the shopping center's gas station and super market have been closed already. talk about fast delivery. amazon's new service that will have your packages aryour door in no time. and grilling in court. a pop star forced to come face-to-face with her accused stalker and answer questions from him. and the anti-ageing drug you probably have in the house that could provide you extra years to your life.

well, the dow opens this morning just 180 points from another all-time record. that's thanks to the last two days in which the blue chip average jumped 700 points. yesterday's 421 points surnl was the large nest more than three years. it was sparked by the fed interest rates comments. it isn't slowing and asian markets gained big overnight. and a warning from the irs. congress cut the agency's budget by $346 million. and that could delay tax refunds next year. there are fewer agents to answer questions and fewer investigators to launch audits. ford adding almost 500,000 more vehicles to the recall with takata air bags. it's the mustang gts from 2005

to 2008. they have been calling to expand the recall. they have recalled back 12 million vehicles with the japanese-made air bags that have been linked to five deaths. amazon is out with the attempt to speedier delivery. it's only available in manhattan. it's prime now. it lets customers have specific goods delivered as quickly as one hour. only available in manhattan for now. they plan a larger rollout next year. and black friday, come and gone. tomorrow, super saturday. the experts say it should be the biggest shopping day of the year. and christmas is in the middle of the week. consumers are expected to spend a billion more tomorrow than on black friday. when we come back, speeding down a hill, a close call with an oncoming bus. and a pair of shoes selling for $33,000. who in the world had their famous feet in these blue kicks?

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...and extra special. welcome to crock country. what a sight in the water office southern california yesterday. a pod of kill eer whales swimmi and splaching offshore. there have been as many as 15 of the orcas around. looks like they're having fun. >> well, fun on the roads today. more than yesterday. many of us hitting the roads for the holidays. they will be much better. still wet in parts of the south, down to the gulf coast and along the northern west coast. there could be some snow in higher elevations as well. if you're flying for the holidays, should be a good day. airport delays possible in houston and new orleans. there's a good chance that pop star ashanti is going to have to face a stalker. >> he has been acting as his own attorney.

he's cross-examined her once, and now will get to do it again. the judge declared a mistrial yesterday when a juror called in sick for deliberations. there will be a new trial. two girls charged in the so-called slenderman stabbing have been ruled fit to stand trial. they planned for months to please an online character. payton was stabbed 19 times last may, she crawled to a sidewalk. the trial is in february. a major clue in the shooting of the weatherman in central texas. police in temple released a composite sketch. crawford is recovering from surgery in a texas hospital. and memphis police are searching for a suspect who shot a fed ex-driver with a high-powered rifle. the suspect jumped out of a mini van, shot the driver and fled. the driver was rushed to the

hospital, now in stable condition. the motive is unclear. new research suggested an added benefit from a painkiller. ibuprofen could add years to your life. regular dozes expanded the lives of worms and others, equal to 12 human years. it was comparable to the human dose. and the best medicine for preventing the flu this winter may be plenty of hug. a new study concludes that warm embraces boosts the body's ability to counter stress and fight off infection. having the perception of social support appeared to curb the risk of infection associated with stress. hugs worked if i can social support. >> you are the guy with the cough, the lung problems, the back ache. >> bring it in.

bring it in. >> okay. >> my immune system feels better already. stage director noll gives you the rest of the week. we showed you a cyclist taken out by a deer. >> a downhill skateboarder in mexico, putting his hands down, and going around a left hand bend, that bus sends him off the road into the trees. be careful out there, foelgs. one more time. >> the bus -- that could have been awful. >> what is he wearing? pjs? >> skater gear, right? no, those are pjs. you're right. in the final thursday night nfl game of the season, jacksonville beat tennessee 21-13 last night. >> the nba highlights from our guys at espn. good morning, welcome to "sportscenter," he's neil everett, i'm stan verrett. nba basketball hit the court thursday night. >> i'm going to roll my tongue,

kevin durant rolled his ankle there. x-rays negative. that's a positive. uncertainty whether he will play friday against the lakers. that's on espn. i always promote. >> you're going to get a raise. >> the right foot was what he broke and missed the start of the season. curry just does not miss. 14-24, he had 34 points. splish, splash, taking a bath. >> pelicans and rockets. and the big watmatch you. and look at the move on austin rivers. and knocks down the three-pointer. and harden again. 21 points in the game for harden. fourth quarter, though. the pelicans up by three. anderson for three. >> that dude can shoot. >> that's what he does. anthony davis does everything. 14 points, 5 blocks.

pelicans win it 99-90 in houston. and the pelicans at 13-12. trying to hang in the tough western conference. >> make it an inspirational lift if stan shows up at the game saturday. someone who's a big fan of michael jordan has a nice new piece of memorabilia. >> he was at north carolina in the early '80s. and before the air jordan created by nike, mike wore converse. >> really? >> yes. >> one pair sold for $33,000. that's a nice piece of memorabilia. you don't wear them. >> no, they're in a display case as we speak. we have "the pulse" and stephen colbert's big sendoff. the long list of celebrities stopping by. and the epic marriage proposal in a phone booth going viral.

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we check "the pulse" now, the stories you'll be talking about today. and first and foremost, the final colbert report. the real stephen colbert is going to replace david letterman on cbs. but the fake guy he has been playing has been poking fun at current events and american politics for nine years as he reminded them last night. >> running for president, saving the olympics, colbert super pac, treadmill in space, the rally to restore sanity and/or fear and cat steven's career. none of that was really me. you, the nation, did all of that. i just got paid for it.

>> the show ended with colbert, jon stewart and randy newman singing we'll meet again. it became a sing along with willie nelson to others. half the fun is trying to see who you can recognize there. who's that there. brokaw. >> you saw brokaw? >> yeah. >> jake tapper in there. oh, my goodness, former governors. he made the cut. my goodness. that's a good crew. it was a great sendoff. well, next, talking pizza hut. taking criticism because a new study finds its pies are saltier here in the u.s. than everywhere else. >> that's right, the thin and crispy pizza in the u.s. has the most sodium out of the 500 tested. they are 70% saltier than pizza hut pizza in canada and new zealand. >> the critics are asking the question, if lower salt versions are elsewhere, why not in the

u.s.? >> but pepperoni pizza is salty. >> pizza's great, don't touch a thing. up next, a man's clever marriage proposal going viral. >> kevin moran popped the question in a photo booth. here's his unsuspecting girlfriend smiling for the camera. >> and he pulls out the ring, and the shocked expression. >> the third picture, laughing and smiling. >> and the fourth picture with the couple sealed the deal with a kiss. of course, she said yes. he said he was expecting the strip of photos, but this was also shooting video the entire time. >> just right. this is better than the guy with the crane and dropped is on everybody. >> a photo booth. i think that's really creative. >> it's simplicity. doesn't have to be big and extravagant. simple stuff. that's great stuff. for some of you, your local

news is next. >> for everyone else, we'll be back with your "friday funnies." (dog barks playfully) dear murphy, thanks for being a warm pillow, a snuggler, and showing me that slobber... ha! just adds character. . . games, thanks for teaching us to be as patient... as you. give thanks for all the joy & inspiration your pet gives you! shop thousands of unique toys & treats at petsmart® is a really big deal.u with aches, fever and chills- there's no such thing as a little flu. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. and call your doctor right away. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days.

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>> hello, everyone, i'm matt o'donnell. it is 4:27, friday, december 19 we're following several breaking stories here. an amber alert has been canceled. the family is dealing with the utmost tragedy. his body was found near his home in upstate new york. investigators are trying to track down the source of a sex tape that rocked a bucks county school district. we're one game away from the eagles showdown with the redskins. eagles must win if they want to make the playoffs. comics to ta. this is their take on the news. >> here are your "friday

funnies." >> president obama announced we are improving relations with cuba. i'm going to smoke a -- no. i'm going to drink some water. can't do anything anymore. >> lindsey lohan wants to move to london permanently. she already drives ant wrong side of the road. among the top google searches were ebola and "frozen." one leaves you with something highly ineffect issues, the other is ebola. sony was hacked in a way few companies were hacked before. it could be deem an act of war. could you imagine if we end up in a war because of the guys from pine appearle express. i figured it would be harold and kumar. >> i'm getting emotional, i

never thought i would live to see america's first third bush president. he's been teasing about running for years. and last november, lifted a nation's hopes, promising i'm going to not think about it until the middle of next year, then i'm going to think about it really hard. yeah. yeah. i mean -- >> biden is keeping busy as well. he just released his holiday car. featuring his family on a rafting trip in miami. take a look. is that cool. can we go in closer on that? he's the only one not doing any paddling. just sitting there. the perfect christmas card. just keep grandpa safe. >> is that really their christmas card? >> we have to do some investigative reporting on that one. >> the holmes family, got to step it up. that's the news. >> stay with us for "good morning amer"

>> we are following breaking news otsz friday, december 18. 8 children are found dead and a woman is hospitalized found inside a home in australia. >> an off-duty police officer and his son are hailed heros after they stopped a burglar in camden county. >> if you're heading out of town, we'll have a your travel forecast and window we're talking about a storm that could arrive christmas eve. >> good morning, it's 4:30, december 19. i saw the traffic