clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >> plenty of dog owners would do the same thing.more on "gma." we'll hear from ivan and two of the heroes who saved him. >>> a nevada police chief is turning a marijuana bust into a teachable moment. the drugs were found on buses carrying 250 teenagers to a ski resort. instead of trying to sort out what belonged to whom, the chief gave them a choice. keep the pot or spend three days in juvenile detention. the kids, obvious, opted to give up the drugs. the chief gave them a good talking to. and many of the teens thanked him for that lesson. >>> here in new york city, the mayor says there's no chance that the national september 11th museum will open on time. and mayor michael bloomberg adds that construction of the museum at ground zero has been halted because of a money dispute. the foundation are at odds. the museum is supposed to open next september 11th. >>> turn, now, to sports and an extraordinary record college football bowl game. >> good morning. and welcome to your espn news update. the alamo ball. robert griffin iii, return

clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >>> police in st. petersburg, florida, are searching for more clues after a grisly discovery washed ashore this week. they are hoping to find clothing, other body parts, that might shed a little bit of light on this person's identity. they're also comparing dna from that leg with the missing person's database. >>> there's a deepening medical mystery over bacteria that's been making infants sick. an oklahoma baby is the third infant this month, sickened by the bacteria sometimes associated with powdered infant formula. a baby in missouri died. and a chicago area baby went to the hospital and recovered. many stores pulled enfamil as a precaution. but the oklahoma baby was not given the formula. >>> doctors have come up with a new way to detect lung cancer. it is from a special breath test. it analyzes the metabolic signature we give off when we exhale. researchers at the cleveland clinic says the method is, in fact, 80% accurate. they're hoping to develop a low-cost breath cast that would combine with a

clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >> so he went after his dog. after my dogs. >> i think any pet owner would do the same thing. an hour and a half, though, hanging on the side of the mountain. see the way the guy came down. i don't know if he was shell shocked. >> he seemed very calm. >> he was like. am i going to get in trouble. what's the deal on the rescue efforts. thick fog may be to blame for an enormous pileup in new orleans involving 40 cars, trucks and suvs. the crash killed two people and injured more than 60 others. several of them critically. the mangled mess strauldprawleds i-10. height way close nearedly 12 hours. >>> despite hundreds of tips, police in maine are still coming up empty in the search for a missing toddler at the center of a custody fight. the girl vanished two weeks ago. police decided there will be no more physical searches. >> abc's t.j. winick has the latest now. good morning, t.j. >> reporter: good morning, dan, sunny. the active search for 209-month-old from maine its over until there is new evidence in the heartb

clayton sandell, thank you. >>> we turn overseas tonight and to north korea, to the marathon morning s i mourning ceremonies for kim jong-il. kim jong-un was proclaimed the nation's leader. and a fascinating detail that speaks voms about life in north korea. look at this photo here of the funeral procession and you'll see a camera crew on the left there. yet, north korea's state controlled media put out their version of the picture with the crew photo shopped out. >>> back here in new york, we took note of a milestone at the ground zero memorial. 1 million people have visited since the memorial opened. with its two giant fountain and museum, 10,000 visitors are now seeing that memorial every day. it is something. >>> still ahead, much more on "world news" this thursday night, the idea of a silent stroke. they are much more common than we all thought and it could explain your memory collapses. tonight, how to know and protect yourself. >>> that scene from the "eye tannic." and tonight, something in it that would be yours, if the price is right. >>> and later tonight, we ask, do you re

our cable partner espn breaking the story, and here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: ralph west says he was 15 when it happened. his memphis basketball team was on a youth league trip in 1983 when he says his coach came into his hotel room and sexually assaulted him. >> i was dead asleep and i don't remember anything but waking up and he had -- trying to put his hands in my boxer shorts. i jumped up straight out of the bed and he's not there but he's laying on the floor next to me. >> reporter: that coach was bobby dodd. he would eventually become the head of that youth league, the amateur athletic union, one of the largest and oldest in the country. west kept his secret for decades but after the penn state scandal, he decided to speak out. he claims the aau ignored him, so he broke his silence to espn's "outside the lines." >> i was afraid to fall asleep when he was around. >> reporter: a second former player who wants to remain anonymous, claims dodd molested him when he was 12. >> i can remember him touching me in ways that i didn't want another man touching me. >> reporter:

we asked abc's clayton sandell to find out. >> reporter: remember the blizzards of 2010? they're a distant memory. in boston last year, they had so much snow, they blew their snow removal budget by $9 million. this year they've hardly touched a penny. no snow may be good for city budgets, but businesses that rely on it are feeling the pain. in spokane, washington, private snow plow companies are losing money. >> it's been pretty light. we haven't been doing much. >> reporter: across the west, ski resorts are suffering. snow pack in utah is down 50%. >> i thought, this looks a lot like it does during the summer. >> reporter: and with less of the white stuff, there's less of the green stuff. here at california's mt. baldie, the slopes are bare. >> we employ 150 in full operation. >> reporter: and in minnesota -- >> beautiful weather out here. first time golfing in minnesota in december. >> reporter: winter enthusiasts can take heart. it's nose extreme weather events that can quickly turn your winter from conditions like this -- into something a lot more like this. >> the wi

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more now from abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: ralph west says he was 15 when it happened.th league trip in 1993 when he says his coach came into his hotel room and sexually assaulted him. >> i was dead asleep. i don't remember anything except waking up and he's trying to put his hand in my boxer shorts. i jumped up straight out of the bed. he is not there but laying on the floor next to me down by the bed. >> reporter: that coach was bobby dodd. he would become the head of the amateur athletic league. one of the oldest and largest in the country. west kept the secret for decades, but after the penn state scandal he decided to speak out. he claims the aau ignored him, so he broke his silence to espn's "outside the lines." a second former player who wants to remain anonymous, claims dodd molested him when he was 12. >> i can remember him touching me in ways that i didn't -- i didn't want another man touching me. >> reporter: dodd denied allegations when confronted by aau officials and left the organization in november. police are now investigating. >> we are shocked and deep

for "good morning america," clayton sandell, abc news. >> so bizarre. you look at his face and his hands you see the difference. >>> right now, time for the weather and our meteorologist ginger zee, who has a youthful looking face and hands, ginger at that. >> thank you. i'm checking them out right now. going to keep the oil of olay. >>> let's start with the snow, made for a very white saturday in parts of the midwest. we're looking here at kansas, northwest kansas, into parts of southeastern nebraska, 6 to 10 inches of snow locally and overall of three to six-inch drop. winter's there, but where else will it be? denver as we get into the rest of this week is going to be extremely cold. look at this. monday, we'll have a high of 9. the blast of cold air behind this system that just dropped all of that snow and also a whole lot of rain. little rock had the wettest november on record. they're going to get several more inches of rain. in a lot of states. 11, actually, under a flood watch. we're looking for more wind in the southwest, temperatures in los an

more from clayton sandell. >> reporter: for any parent with a kid playing youth sports, this scandalhitting like a gut punch. in 1983 ralph west played on a basketball team run by the amateur athletic union. at the time he was 15 and says on a team trip to florida he was sexually assaulted by his coach, bobby dodd. >> i was dead asleep, and i don't remember anything but waking up, and he has his -- he's trying to put his hand in my boxer shorts. >> reporter: dodd went on to become the ceo and president of the aau. west kept quiet for decades but says the sex abuse case at penn state made him break his silence. he says the aau ignored him. so he went to espn's "outside the lines." the allegations have rocked the aau's all-american reputation. it's one of the oldest, most powerful youth sports organizations in the world. >> this should be the wake-up call to end all wake-up calls. if you can't trust your boy or girl to be playing sports in this country within the aau organization, what in the world can you trust? >> reporter: dodd has cancer and has now left the organization. he hasn't

abc's clayton sandel takes a look at what is going on. >> reporter: remember blizzards of 2010? they're a distant memory. in boston last year they had so much snow they blew their snow removal budget by $9 million. this year, they hardly touched a penny. no snow may be good for city budgets, businesses that rely on it are feeling the pain. in spokane, washington, private snowplow companies are losing money. >> it's been pretty light. haven't been doing much. >> reporter: across the west, ski resorts are suffering. snow pack in utah is down 50%. >> i thought this looks a lot like it does during the summer. >> reporter: with less of the white stuff there is less of the green stuff. here at california's ski area, half the ski runs are closed. if you don't get that big storm which opens things up how many jobs are we talking about? >> we employ 150 at full operation. >> reporter: in minnesota. >> beautiful weather. >> first time ever golfing in minnesota in december. >> reporter: forecasters say we could still get a snow or two. it is those extreme weather events that can quickly tu

abc's clayton sandell takes a er b at what is going on.- of 2010 they're a distant memory.n boston last year, they had so much snow, they blew their snow removal budget by $9 million. this year, they hardly touched a penny. no snow may be good for city budgets, businesses that rely on it are feeling the pain. in spokane, washington, private snowplow companies are losing money. >> it's been pretty li we haven't been doing much. >> reporter: across the west, uffe snow pack in utah in 50 >> i thought this looks o le dg th >> reporter: with less of the here at california's mt. baldy ski area, half of the ski runs are closed. if you don't get that big storm which opens things up how many jobs are we talking about? >> we employ 150 at full operation. >> reporter: in minnesota. >> beautiful weather. >> first time ever golfing in minnesota in december. >> reporter: winter enthusiasts can take heart, forecasters say we could still get a snowmageddon or two. it is those extreme weather events that can quickly turn

clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >> anybody who has a dog understands. understands. apparently we'll hear much more about the rescue and from the young man later this morning on "gma." we'll get a chance to hear more from him. >> lot of thankful people out there for that one. >>> now to the presidential race, and republican voters have put mitt romney back on top in the latest national poll. romney has a four-point lead over newt gingrich and the first time since early november that the national poll shows romney ahead of gingrich. ron paul is in third place. since early december, romney has gained five points in the poll. gingrich has dropped 14 points. paul is now up 3 points. >>> romney also leads the polls in iowa, that is where he will face his first test next tuesday. in that state's caucuses. he is expected to finish first or at worst second. but as abc's jonathan carl reports, the hawkeye state is not a slam dunk for the former massachusetts governor. ♪ >> reporter: for mitt romney this is the time to close the deal. >> what a crowd! >> reporter: riding high,

and clayton sandell was witness to it all. >> reporter: ivan salas thought he was on his last hike. >> a plume of dust and rocks started to pelt this guy. >> reporter: walking along this 130-foot-high ridge with his dad and his dogs, ivan's father threw a bottle over the edge. that's when ivan's dog lola chased after it. ivan went after her. and soon, they were on steep, unstable terrain. that's ivan going after her. watch as choppers move in, hoping to pluck ivan and lola off the side of the ravine. they aboarded the plan when the rotors kicked loose a shower of dust and rocks. >> there's a real good chance we're going to knock that dog off the side of the hill. that's a risk we're going to take. >> reporter: as ivan and lola hang on for their lives, rescuers delicately inch closer. first, lola was led to safety. finally, in one incredible moment, ivan and his rescuer make one, last white-knuckle descent, repelling down the hillside as it collapses. ivan was not injured. he was able to walk the rest of the way out when we caught up with him. how long were you up there? >> like two ho

here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: there he was, again, in one hand a note demanding cash and in the other a gun. the teller gave him the money and something else, a hidden dye pack, something that exploded. >> we're not sure if he got away with any money. >> reporter: he also dropped what appeared to be a small address book. potentially a big break for police. >> they might get lucky and get fingerprints off of what he dropped. you might not be able to identify him, but you may be able to link him to other robberies. >> reporter: investigators won't say how much he stolen. but nationwide last year, the average take for robbing one bank was over $8,000. friday's bank job is his 16th in southern california. he stayed one step ahead of police by being careful to vary the locations, times and days of his robberies. but with each new heist, the pile of everyday and news coverage grows. >> the geezer was at the bank of america just as it was about to close. >> each time you have a robbery you sometimes get one more piece of information that will take you closer to the bad guy. >> r

for "good morning america," clayton sandell, abc news. >> and you can see the entire interview on "outside the lines." today at 10:00 a.m. eastern. on espn2. >>> also, new information this morning about the gunman killed by l.a. police after he opened fire at a hollywood intersection. 26-year-old tyler brehm of pennsylvania was reportedly distraught after breaking up with his girlfriend of four years. he was unedge mroid. three people were injured in friday's ram page. >>> and finally, a special reunion at the mall. they asked to bring their dad home from iraq. so he did. he returned from his third tour of duty. to hugs from 7-year-old matthew, 9-year-old isabel and 12-year-old abby. this time of year doesn't get any better than that. love to see that kind of image. >> thank you. >>> time for weather now and meteorologist ginger zee. good morning. >> good morning, everybody. brr in the northeast. it's a lot colder than we have been. actually the coldest day of the season. but this about normal for this time of year. first subfreezing morning, though from d.c. to new york and boston. here's

here's abc's clayton sandel. >> reporter: there he was again, in one hand a note demanding cash.he teller gave him the money and something else. a hidden dye pack that exploded as he left. >> quite a bit of money in the parking lot spread out every several parking stalls. not sure if he got away or not. >> reporter: the geezer bandit also dropped what is believed to be a small address book. potentially a big break for police. >> they may get lucky and get fingerprints off what he dropped. you might not be able to identify him, but you might be able to link him to other robberies. >> reporter: investigators won't say how much he has stolen. nationwide last year the average take for robbing one bank was over $8,000. friday's bank job is his 16th in southern california. he stayed one step ahead of police, being careful to vary locations times and days of his robberies. with each new heist the pile of surveillance, video and news coverage grows. >> the geezer hit just as the bank of america was about to close. >> reporter: geezer bandit's luck may be running out. police wonder if the

. >> r: thr go news or bad news on whether more snow makes you money or c clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >> we're crying wolf that we don't have a winter. all of a sudden, it's going to hit us. >> winter is pretty young. just got into winter december 22nd. hold off, everyone. 1 ophitf, everyone. >>> here's your thursday forecast. downpours with flooding in the seattle casnortok rain in the ler e oisling the ler e a wintry mix in the dak detr >> most in t. 56 in atlanta. and 61 in dallas. kansas city, 54. chicago, 44. rainy, 50, seattle. 64 in sacramento. 52 in colorado springs. >> dust in the wind not snow in the wind. from southern germany now, holy ice church, ice church. yes, we're serious. >> the priest was there blessing the opening of the church. and yes, it's made completely of ice and snow. 75 feet long. features a tower 60 feet high. created to mark the 100th anniversary of another ice church built in the same place. >> the project had to be delayed a couple of weeks because of the warm temperatures. before it melts, the church will be used for religious services an