making news in america this monday morning -- blistering cold, tracking sub zero temperatures. already setting records. the luggage piling up, as flights are canceled across the country. and football fans braving the cold. the last vote. it is likely be official today. electors are expected to confirm donald trump's victory. could the electors go rogue and block his win? wedding day tragedy. a large tree falls on a group taking photos. killing one person. this morning, we're hearing from witnesses for the first time. highway emergency. a car smashing through a pole and still not stopping. how good samaritans jumped in to help the driver.

good morning. i'm kendis gibson. >> and i'm marci gonzalez in for diane macedo. we begin with the brutal bout of arctic air. >> minus 22 in chicago. that's what people are waking up to. in d.c., 18. and here in new york city, 14. >> getting home for the holidays is proving difficult because of the weather. travelers forced to sleep in airports as thousands of flights are canceled. >> you can see the bags there piling up at denver's airport. nfl players and fans enduring temperatures below zero. the cold front is smashing records. and it's on the move. this morning, a fresh blast of arctic air. >> feels like i'm in the antarctic. >> reporter: the cold front breaking records in two dozen cities. travelers likely face a fifth

consecutive day of wert >> got through security, then my flight got canceled. >> reporter: at denver international airport, people sleeping in the airport. frontier chance ms dozens of flights. blizzard conditions responsible for this 67-vehicle crash over the weekend. this lake michigan lighthouse captures how the weekend felt for millions of americans. kax in ice. brutal temperatures testing fan loyalty at several football games. in chicago, the bears and packers played in one of the coldest games ever at soldier field, with a wind chill of minus 18. in kansas city, the they are mom ter read 2 dees. cold brew and frozen food. >> we have frozen guacamole and

hummus. >> reporter: but the die hard fans still tailgating. it will be a balmy 29 in kansas city today. >> oh, toasty. delightful. so who's next to see the dangerous arctic air? accuweather's paul williams is tracking it all. >> high pressure in the south central part of the season. it's a high pressure system. lit tug on the cold air, which will be a cold flow throughout the entire northeast. ironically enough, by the time tuesday rolls around, the same clockwise rotation brings in milder air that will step in as early as tuesday. arctic air to the north. chilly air to the south. it will stay cold with a high pressure system pulling the cold air from the north. kendis? marci? >> our thanks to paul winter. the electoral college is expected to make donald trump's election official. as 538 members gather across the

country today to cast their votes. >> gop electors are facing pleas to block trump amid intelligence claims of russian hacking and hillary clinton's popular vote victory. angelica spanos has the latest. >> reporter: the hope is that today's vote will remove the last bit of drama coming from this unprecedented election. on zigs groups and liberals have tried to urge trump electors to vote for clinton post election. but the numbers will still point to trump. >> whoa whoa, donald trump has got to go. >> reporter: in the nation's capital, protesters marched on the mall. in north carolina, a vigil at the state capital to encourage electors to block donald trump. e lerkts there insist they're not changing their vote. >> it really shows a lack of understanding of our democracy. it shows an honest lack and

disrespect. >> reporter: it would take at least 37 republican electors to side with hillary clinton or another candidate for trump to lose. the reality of this is slim. some electors want more information before they vote. 80 of them asking for a briefing on russia. but intelligence officials declined. >> the entire nonsense about the electors trying to use the russian hacking issue to change the election results is really unfortunate pip think that actually undermines our democracy. >> reporter: the president-elect still refuses to accept u.s. intelligence claiming russian agents and vladimir putin had anything to do with hacking the dnc. trump took to twitter to sarks if my many supporters acted and threatened people like those who lost the election are doing, they would be skornd and called terrible names. meantime, on capitol hill, there's a push for a second

investigation into the hacking situation. kendis? marci, back to you. >> all right, angelica, thank you. breaking news from syria. mass evacuations resumed this morning in aleppo. at least ten buses were seen taking civilians out after days of delays. >> over the weekend, buses were burned by the opposition. today, the u.n. is expected to vote on a plan to put more than 100 monitors in eastern aleppo to try tone sure safe evacuations. the people who have fwont out are said to be in bad shape with no access to food or water. a retired teacher from canada is among the dead in jordan after what one official called a cowardly terrorist attack. it happened in karak. 62-year-old linda vacher and nine others died in a series of

attacks. as you know, the president of the united states has to deal with a lot of serious topics every day. which is why white house staff had a little bit of fun pranking the the president at the white house. did you see this over the week snend take a look. staffers decided to give the president some frosty surveillance treatment. >> they set up the white house snowmen at different windows so it would look like they are keeping a close eye on him there. >> lucky for the staff, their boss had a good sense of humor. they got a shot of himming look surprised by his new friends. >> twitter made a change, adding vladimir putin's head. it is the busiest shipping day of the year. the high-tech option for procrastinators. plus, a rescue mission inside a cave, after seven people go missing. an update on the overnight search. and caught on camera, a car careens down a highway.

slamming through street lights. we're learning why the driver lost control.

20 freight train cars filled with coal jumped the tracks in central kansas. no one was hurt when the union pacific train derailed. investigators are trying to figure out the cause. there's a $20,000 reward for a man who killed a 3-year-old in a case of road rage. police say the gunman became upset when the grandmother did not drive away from a red light fast enough. the man got out of his vehicle and fired at least once before driving off.

seven cave explorers who had been missing in western kentucky have now been rescue fpd group had gone underground saturday afternoon and were expected to come out sunday morning. high-water levels in the cave made it difficult to find them. they're being treated for exposure and hypothermia. to texas, where it's once again safe to drink the tap water. residents had been warn not to drink, cook, or bathe with the water. today is expected to be the busiest mailing day of the year. the postal service expects to seven 12 million customers today who want their gifts to arrive by christmas. some cities, going high-tech might get you more time. the post-mates app can help. amazon's prime now service has two-hour delivery up until

christmas eve. >> good up ttips. "rogue one" already helping disney. taking in $155 million over the weekend. another disney film, "moana ts quuz second with $12 million. "office christmas party" was third with $8 million. when we come back, multimillion manhole covers exploding. what caused this? and celebration of the year, a football player donates himself to the salvation army. the reaction, coming up. walgreens presents, a holiday mini miracle. hey! hey! ♪ this is for you. did you really? didn't have too! ♪ getting the gift you almost kept for yourself? now that's a holiday mini miracle. and it's easy to create your own at walgreens... with 50 percent off the gifts of the week,

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campbell's spider-man soups. made for real, real life. thanks mom dobecause you've got ams lot of cheering to do! get fast sinus relief...with vicks sinex. and get your head back in the game. sinex. the congestion, pressure, pain to clear your head, medicine. drum roll please.hing. it's the sing sweepstakes. it's some of this, loads of that. 'cause you can win $100,000 from post cereal brands. honey bunches of oats. and sing. only in theaters 44,000 volunteers braved cold, freezinging rain to place nearly 250,000 wreet wreaths at arlington national cemetery this weekend. it was the 25th year for wreaths across america. it took place at more than 1200 other locations. drivers this morning should

watch out for slippery dmns the northeast. mountain snow in the cascades and northern rockies. roads at times wet in the northwest and most of florida. the investigation is just beginning into a family tragedy. a tree falling on a wedding part as they took pictures. killing one woman. >> this is absolutely horrible. at least seven others were injured including a child. the family had gathered for photographs when the large eucalyptus tree cam crashing down. several young girls were at family picnic nearby when the tree fell. >> and the tree fell. people were running towards this. the dranchs caught them. my dad and family members were coming here. my dad saw the groom. pulled him out of the branches. >> here's what we're learning this morning. officials speculate that the long drought in california may have caused the tree to become unstable. the park is closed while a tree expert can find out exactly why

it fell. now to a dramatic crash captured on camera in florida. a driver wildly swerving and then slamming into a light pole. instoefd stopping, he just keeps on going. as onlookers watch in horror and then jump in to help. abc's linsey davis has more. >> pull over, pull over zwlchlt. >> reporter: he's are the harrowing moments on a florida highway. a car comes dangerously close to catastrophe. >> pull over! what the -- >> reporter: a driver, apparently having a medical episode crashes through the street light and keeps going. >> what are you doing? pull over! >> reporter: the cadillac picks up speed. crisscrossing the highway. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: slamming into a guardrail. >> pull, you need to stop! >> reporter: before finally coming to a stop. >> bro, you need to stop. stop. >> reporter: the driver appears

disoriented but is somehow okay. >> come on. we got to get out of the car. the car is smoking. >> reporter: linsey davis, abc news, new york. >> quite an amazing piece of video. exploding manhole covers causing a safety hazard north of boston. after the explosion, flames could be seen coming from undergroind. officials are blaming an underground electrical fire. fans are mourning the death of zsa zsa gabor. recalling that unmistakable accent. >> darling, a girl can't make a success on instincts alone. to understand man takes a lifetime of studying. sfland study she did. she was married nine times. an actress and beauty queen. and mostly famous for being famous. she died yesterday at her home in los angeles after a heart attack. she was 99.

>> she had a long life indeed. and plenty of movies and tv shows. time for sports. including the cowboys inching closer to an nfc east title. >> we get the highlights now from espn. good morning, america. welcome to our festive "sportscenter" studios. i'm john buccigross. if you're up now, you may not have been up late last night to watch the cowboys and buccaneers. that's what i'm here for. ezekiel elliott. 159 rushing yards. this passed tony or the setd for rushing touchdowns. he made news by jumping in the giant kettle. of course, he got a penalty. dak prescott was great throwing the football. he was 32 of 36. one more chance for jameis winston. but he'll throw his third interception of the game. the cowboys have won six straight home games. the longest streak in a single

season since 1999. how about the titans and the chiefs. it's freezing cold. ryan succop. oh, no it's short. and the titans lose -- what? andy reid calls time oud. so he gets a second chance. he said, i just tried to kick that thing as hard as i could. forget about form and function. it's good from 53 yards. the titans' playoff hopes still alive. raiders-chargers. sebastian janikowski. from44. knocks it in. he breaks a 16-16 tie with 2:40 left in the game. one more chance. go, chargers, go. nope, philip rivers picked off by reggie nelson. the raiders clinch their first playoff berth since 2002. merry christmas, happy holidays, america. >> '16 is a strange year indeed.

why one-third of all presents are returned. and the young hockey fan stealing the show at game. give underwear to this holiday. and there are some people you shouldn't . people you should. shouldn't. janice! should. shouldn't. yes. no. should. no way. should. no. definitely not. ha ha, nay. you shouldn't give underwear to everybody. but for those you do, give them fruit of the loom.

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mmm. good right? yeah. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you. time to check your monday morning "pulse." starting with the psychology behind gift giving. making it clear why there's so much gift returning. >> several categories of bad gifting. buying a gift to change someone. like getting a cook ware set for your daughter-in-law. and then there's the to you, for me. the husband picking out the big-screen tv for his wife. >> he's nice. you can watch lifetime on the big screen, honey.

and let's not forget the bragging gift. this year, before you buy, think about your motive. >> i'm okay with willing outgifted if it means diamonds. a young woman in georgia now has enough gifts for the laundry sock grem tloins last a lifetime. >> look at haven and her boyfriend, jackson. when jackson asked haven what she wanted for christmas, she said fuzzy sox. >> he ordered a pack of 1. he got a little bit concerned when the box arrived, because it seemed just a little too big. >> here's what happened. that's because someone goofed and sent him 12 dozen fuzzy socks. 144 socks in all. the detroit red wings are playing mediocre hockey right now. the san francisco to take their fun where they can. such as watching this adorable boy on the big video screen during the game.

>> when he appeared, they cheered. and -- [ crowd cheering ] >> when the video cut away to a shot of the crowd, they booed. [ crowd booing ] [ crowd cheering ] >> until they put him back on. >> you have to realize, they haven't had much to cheer about here in detroit. >> giving him something to be pretty happy about. >> all right. more news after this. [ crowd booing ] the things that i consume on a daily basis, a lot of it is very acidic. the enamel on my teeth was actually weakening. the whiteness wasn't there as much. my teeth didn't look as healthy as others. my dentist said that pronamel would help fight against that erosion that foods and drinks were causing. so it was really important to start using the pronamel. it'll be one less thing you have to worry about. pronamel is now giving me the confidence to know that i'm doing the right thing. so it's nice to know that it's as simple as that. ♪

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>> good morning, good to see you, i'm matt o'donnell, 4:27 a.m. monday morning. here's what's coming up next on "action news." students had just been dropped off minutes before a car slammed into the back of a school bus. we're live on the scene of a double fatal crash along the roosevelt boulevard. happening today, members of the electoral college cast their votes to officially make donald trump the next president. sky6 live hd looking at center city philadelphia. meteorologist david murphy has the forecast for the busy last week before christmas and hanukkah. plus, whole play monday morning quarterback, should they have gone for two, next. the nutcrac course, a holiday tradition dating back decades. this next performance has a new

take. >> the cast is one of a kind david wright with the charming details. ♪ >> reporter: as the curtain rises on ctchaikovsky's classic. >> let's zbet some makeup. >> reporter: among the mice and toy soldiers, the nutcracker tapped snowflakes. >> you're a beautiful princess, right, gab bi? >> reporter: 9-year-old gabriela has a place. helped by her friend, sammy shore. >> we've become really good friends, right? >> reporter: 18-year-old shawn is in the cast, too. that's him practicing with one of the principal dancers. he and gabby dance. they're part of program for kids with special needs. they tried out for the nutcracker this year like

everyone else. >> they've taken them under their wings. it's special. it gives us a very warm feeling. >> reporter: as the party scene begins, gabby is beaming. >> good job. >> reporter: her mother, too. >> it's emotional to be honest when you have a child with special needs. you're very hopeful that she'll be included and be a participant. >> reporter: "the nutcracker" is all about a christmas dream come true through the magic of ballet. here in a way tchaikovsky never imagined. david wright, abc news, new york. >> so sweet. >> a dream come true. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> do stick around for "good morning america." have a great monday.

>> good morning it is 4:30 a.m., monday, december 19. >> new this morning, flames engulfed a south jersey home as fire crews rush to pull someone to safety. >> a mercedes smashes into a school bus and burst into flames with deadly results. members. electoral college gather today to formally elect donald trump as president. >> we'll have those stories, but first let's go over to david murphy with the accuweather forecast and karen rogers has the morning commute. >> reporter:e'