reena and t.j. >> elizabeth hur, live in new york. thanks so much. >> even though officer pantaleo said it was not a chokehold, the medical examiner thought differently. >> garner's death was ruled a homicide, why no charges. dan abrams breaks it down. >> the homicide means death at the hands of another. the primary cause of death was the police officer's actions. but there are defenses to that. and in this case, the police officer said he was you haved with -- justiced, and they believed he was. >> we have live coverage coming up on "good morning america." >>> the justice department says there are problems in the cleveland police department from top to bottom. the latest was a boy carrying a toy gun who was shot to death by an officer two seconds after the officer arrived on scene. there are frequent civil rights violences in cleveland. they will intervene. >>> police are looking for a man accused of killing three people. the bradenton man's wife, a neighbor and the pastor of the church where the wife worked. they were killed at the

we begin with elizabeth hur. >> reporter: businesses destroyed, streets littered with debris, and signs like these no match for mother nature. leaving parts of mississippi under a state of emergency. >> i have been praying all my life. i prayed like i never prayed. >> oh, man, it is storming. >> reporter: the deep south taking a beating from twisters and hail. and winds so strong blowing cars, including this plants, on to its side. >> the wind was blowing real hard, and the wife was hollering getting the dogs in, and stuff was flying everywhere. the trampoline. >> reporter: in the midwest, snowplows are working overtime from south dakota to minnesota and colorado with near whiteout conditions shutting down some interstates, stranding commuters and holiday travelers. >> yeah, it looks like you might have touched that american. >> ek. >> reporter: delays were inevitable, even for those flying. in this case, two planes colliding and clipping wings means these passengers weren't getting anywhere fast. >> delay the flight going there and back. >> reporter: and reporting more than 5,000 delay

elizabeth hur has the story. >> reporter: grief and devastation for family and friends. some sobbing after their worst fears are concern with this debris field over the java sea and this official announcement. the chief of search and rescue declaring and confirmed that the area is where the plane crashed and the debris came from the missing plane that we have been searching for. >> i'm still hopeful for a miracle. sorry, i cannot continue. >> reporter: the remains found about six miles from the last point of contact with the pilots about 100 feet deep where divers continue to search for more bodies. back at airport, items retrooefd, including a blue suitcase and oxygen tank carefully gathered by investigators. >> we are saddened by the news. >> reporter: so far the bodies recovered did not have life vests, meaning there was no time for passengers or the crew to sound the alarm. and the metal wreckage with burn marks could suggest an explosion or even a fire. >> once you have the debris, look at it all. fire stands out, explosion stands out. was it ripped apart or somethi

. >> we have the latest from elizabeth hur. >> officials say that so far they have recovered 15 bodies. as far as the identification process is concerned, we are told it involves not only a visual examination but d.n.a. testing and they are work, as quickly as they could for the grieving families. >> grief and devastation for family and trends. some fainting. others sobbing after the worst fees are confirmed with the discovery of the debris field scattered over the java sea. >> chief of search-and-rescue declaring a confirmmation this is where the plane crash and the debris came from the missing plane. the remains found were found six miles from the last point of contact with the pilots 100' deep where divers continue to search for more bodies. back at the airports items refreaked including the oxygen tank were gathered by investigators. >> so far, the bodies did not have life jackets on so there was no time for passengers or crew to sound the alarm. the burn marks in wreckage could suggest an explosion or fire. >> when you have the debris you look at it all. fire stands out. explosion

. >> elizabeth hur, live this morning.nk you. >> we're learning more about the man who shot and killed them. >> he shot his ex-girlfriend in maryland before heading to new york. he had a long criminal history that included at least 19 arrests. you see some of his mug shots here. he served two years in prison for gun possession. >>> meanwhile, another police officer's murder under investigation. >> the victim there, charles kondak, a 17-year veteran of the tarpon springs police department. he served five years with the nypd before moving to florida. it does not appear to be related to the new york city shooting. >>> statistics out showing this morning the number of police officers killed on the job sup this year. >> the total number of deaths rose to 23%. the firearm related deaths are up 58%. >>> turning to the weather now. high winds overnight causing problems in southern california. >> gusts were clocked as high as 87 miles an hour, taking out trees like this one here, it landed on a car. >>> there's a winter storm warni

as abc's elizabeth hur tells us indonesia is asking the united states for help. city with the very latest. hi liz. >> reporter: good afternoon to you, brian and yes u.s. officials tell us they are right now reviewing that request for help. in the meantime, we are hearing that last minute that this pilot did ask to change his path. whether or not the plane's path played a factor in this mystery, well, officials say that remains to be seen. without warning or distress calls, air asia flight 8501 simply vanished. that's according to authorities who vow to use all available resources in finding the missing plane. for families with missing loved ones, the wait is agonizing. [speaking foreign language] >> reporter: in indonesian the pilot's father says i want my son to come home alive but if it's not meant to be, if god doesn't want it, it's in faith's hands. >> we have to fond out what went wrong and we have to carry out doing what good we have been doing. >> reporter: the airbus leaving indonesia for singapore disappeared sunday morning just minutes after the pilot a

. >> but as elizabeth hur reports they were tampered by the holiday somewhat. >> reporter: calling the march no time off, protesters out again on christmas night from the st. louis suburb of berkeley, missouri, to the streets of oakland, california and cleveland, ohio, all determined, they say, to fight and rally will in the name of justice. >> this is a human rights issue in that everyone should be a part of some type of action to raise awareness. >> reporter: most remained peaceful but police in oakland kept busy responding to reports of vandalism including smashed windows and burning dumpsters. >> amen. >> reporter: meanwhile, in brooklyn a show of respect for new york city police officers rafael ramos and wenjian liu killed in the line of duty last saturday. this event organized by reverend al sharpton who has been at the forefront of the national movement against police brutality following the deaths of eric garner and mike brown. but on this day, sharpton offering a message of reference and unity as a city in mourning prepares to bury officer ramos. >> we are against the shedding

elizabeth hur is joining us. >> reporter: while the mayor is appealing for harmony, police are being warned to take extra precautions. this is because while investigators believe the attacker acted alone, threats from copy cats have police on alert. a brutal attack against two nypd officer has police in new york and cities nationwide on guard. >> when a guy in new york is gunned down murdered in cold blood. it opens our eyes. >> reporter: shot dead at point blank ring, wenjian liu and rafael ramos were assassinated. their families reeling just days before christmas. >> this is a difficult time for both of our families. but we will stand together and get through this together. >> reporter: officer liu got married two months ago. officer ramos leaves behind a wife and two sons. killed, police say, at the hands of 28-year-old ish may yell brinsley. his gun, police inside the plastic bag. back in brooklyn, hundreds paying tribute. among them, eric garner's daughter. >> you're still a human being, you had a family, you had a and children. >> reporter: and again new york city's mayor is as

elizabeth hur has the latest. >> reporter: a mistake at a high-security lab, according to authorities, now means a lab technician at the cdc must be monitored for possible exposure to the dangerous ebola virus. a small amount, officials say, which may have contained the live virus was accidently moved from a level four lab where researchers are required to work fully protected in airtight suits to a lower level security lab where the technician processed the virus. it happened on monday. and even though it was on a sealed plate, it should not have been moved. the director of the cdc said i am troubled by this incident. we are monitoring the health of the one technician who could have been exposed and i have directed a full review of the incident. this is the third troubling incident at the cdc in recent months. in may, a deadly bird flu was is sent to an agriculture lab by mistake. and dozens of workers were exposed to anthrax. alarming the head of the cdc who spoke to abc news. >> we have had two incidents that were a wakeup call. safety protocols weren't in place or procedures weren

abc's elizabeth hur has more. >> reporter: more ships and planes put to work scouring the indonesiane the nearby islands. indonesia asking and now receiving help from western nations, including the u.s. 162 people were on airasia flight 8501 sunday morning bound for singapore. to avoid bad weather over the java sea, the pilot radios in requesting to climb up from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet. minutes later, before he is cleared, the jetliner vanishes from radar. >> either a catastrophic failure or the crew did not respond correctly to something that happened to them. >> reporter: the incident troubling for investigators and devastating to families. the father of the pilot wants his son to come back alive. while others continue to cry and pray for a miracle, some are thanking their lucky stars. >> we were supposed to be on that flight on the 28th. it's scary. >> reporter: just nine months ago, malaysian flight 370 disappeared over the indian ocean, larger and deeper than the java sea. >> i'm hopeful here. we have a much more confined area. a much more shallower sea and a pretty good ide

elizabeth sure -- hur will have the latest in 30 minutes. >> how is it looking, meteorologist mike mike over but you will have a rough drive if you are headed out that way in high from file vehicles eastbound and westbound because of the northeast gusts. the winds are around 20 to 30 miles per hour and not so fast as last night and gusts will not reach the we peeks of last night up to 35. quote still have a few trees that give way over the next, say, 5 1/2 hours to six hours. keep that in mind. you can see 40-miles-per-hour gusts in the last few minutes on mount tamalpais and when the sun cops -- comes up, in the next few hours you could see some breezes pick up a little bit so do not be surprised. >> by the afternoon, breezes will taper and low-to-mid 50's inland and at the coast and low-to-mid 50's around the bay. sunshine we arid air and below average temperatures. tonight, that is all a recipe for freezing cold conditions everywhere but for the coast and from richmond all the way to milpitas and across 237 in sunnyvale and to sausalito and the bay shore and the coast, out of the fre