justin finch abc news, justin thank you, and it was a rough ride for many drivers who didn't he to the warnings to stay off the roads? this driver lost control in a steep, ice covered streets in seattle, washington crashing into several cars before sliding down. on the hill sideways. so how much more of this? can we expect accuweather meteorologist kevin costner and joins us with th forecast. good morning, mornt starts off on this monday with some snow in the midwest and the tennessee valley could see a little bit of slippery roads out there. maybe even some airport delays. places like louisville, kentucky, you're gonna have some slick streets now. meantime across the great lakes coming off of lake siri and ontario, the lake effect snow continues. be careful driving there, and a big early, weak storm is brewing in the pacific northwest. it's going to move into seattle in portland's on this monday and then slide down into california. into tuesday and wednesday. so the travel outlook for today there'll be some issues with some snow across our nation's midsection. be careful driving espec

justin finch, abc news, washington. reggie: this week, congress could consider lifting the covid vaccine mandate on military members. the national defense authorization act is set to be unveiled today. that could include the 21 republican governors that asked the biden administration in a letter last week to repeal the mandate, saying it is hurting their recruiting efforts. drew: time now is 5:09. sfo this morning, where the runways are wet. we are tracking unsettled weather throughout the entire day. very scattered right now, even the threat of thunderstorms is the day goes on. live doppler 7, busy in some spots. we have this line of showers and downpours about to move on sure over the next 15 minutes. we are seeing some downpours in the santa cruz mountains. a live look on highway 35. seeing some heavy rain at this hour, now seeing some lightning strikes in the north bay. we have seven lightning strikes with this cell that is moving toward hoglund. not out of the question you are seeing some lightning and hearing thun

packed with holiday shoppers, abc's justin finch has more. >> reporter: overnight, a deadly shootingide minnesota's mall of america sending terrified shoppers buying last-minute gifts running for cover just days before christmas. >> report of shots fired in order strom. >> reports of one victim. >> reporter: police saying the shooter opened fire inside nordstrom. nearby officers hearing the shots finding a 19-year-old man hit several times. >> this is before christmas and now they're having to bury one of their loved ones. >> reporter: investigators saying it happened during an argument and fistfight between a group of five to nine people. >> we saw some people running towards us and i've learned that if people are running towards us and a lot of them you don't walk towards whatever they're running from. >> reporter: the largest mall in the country packed with holiday shoppers under lockdown for more than an hour. taylor johnson hid in the back of a store with other shoppers. >> the two girls in there looked younger and they were calling their parents and crying on the phone talking

justin finch, abc news, washington. cards and gifts, scams are also common during the holidays. karina nova looks at some of the biggest holiday scams. reporter: the better business bureau released their top five holiday scams to watch for, so here they are. online purchase scams were most commonly reported. that means people are paying for items online they never received or are being charged for monthly free trials they never signed up for. before buying something, you should read reviews about the business. next, watch out for social media gift exchanges. a newer version of this scam revolves around exchanging bottles of wine and purchasing $10 gift cards online. this scam gives strangers your personal information, so do not fall for it. another one that seems tempting, free gift cards. you might have received any mail with an offer like that. scammers impersonate legitimate companies and promised gift cards to reward loyal customers. if you receive a gift card offer or a pop up that says won a prize, do not open it.

this is the unclaimed luggage at the airport in toronto, abc's justin finch. joins us with the latest justin. good morning. andrew good morning, massive snowstorms and chilling cold around the country have left dozens dead, and officials say that death toll is expected to rise. tragic holiday weekend for dozens of families now planning funerals after winter storms nationwide left at least 39 people dead, there is substantial, significant and devastating loss of life as a result of this winter storm in new york, at least 17 people have died from storm related incidents. 10 deaths reported in the city of buffalo alone, and authorities say that number wils were foundcarsndomewhere et. snowbanks we know there are people stuck in cars for more than two days, and there are people in homes that are below freezing now. temperatures wind gusts approaching 80 mph knocked out power for thousands, the storm dropped nearly four ft of snow with an extra two ft. still possible in some areas. buffalo's airport is closed until tomorrow, adding to the growing list of canceled fl

abnewsepter justin finch has a story. >> a delaware national guard reserve center about president biden to sign up for benefits that could save life. >> no place in rather be today then to get the word out about the act. >> the promise aims to make it easier for veterans who believe they were exposed to toxins, such as hazardous chemicals and burn pits during their service to apply for benefits from the department of veterans affairs. burn pits contributed to his sons cancer. >> the benefits are real. >> the act calls for billion in federal funding and fast-track claims for terminally ill veterans. but inside the bipartisan bill into law back in august and said he thought republican opposition to do so. >> if they didn't pass this was going to go on holy war. >> the white house reports more than hundred 85,000 veterans have already applied for a pact act and if it. the president says the measure helps to fulfill the nation's sacred obligation to those who put their lives on the line. >> when i came home headaches. and numbness. dizziness, cancer. >> the white house says more than 700,00

a sad story just before christmas, gio. >> such a scary moment there, justin finch, thank you. >>> we'reng to turn now to the guilty verdict for rapper tory lanez charged in the shooting of hip-hop star megan thee stallion. abc's zohreen shah has more from los angeles now. hey, zohreen, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, gio. this is the trial that divided the hip-hop community. megan thee stallion wrote about speaking up for black women and how they're often not believed, and then you had singer tory lanez and a lot of his well-known supporters calling megan a liar. remember, you had phone, text, witness evidence, all favoring megan. megan says tory shot at her injuring both her feet after a hollywood hills party two years ago. in the end the jury believed the prosecution, and lanez was found guilty of all three charges including felony assault, and he was handcuffed in court. look, this is a case that has been faced with twists and turns, a lot of people changing their stories including key witnesses. one witness went missing, and the defense tried placing the blame on a fem

abc is justin finch has the latest from washington. justin good morning, andrew. good morning. ukraine's president. zelinsky says he wanted to make this trip sooner. but his visit now some 300 days into the war shows the situation in ukraine is under control, because of us support. so lynskey using this trip to appeal directly to congress and the american people about the high stakes of ukraine's fight against russia. probably in the footsteps of british prime minister winston churchill. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, addressing congress and seeking to submit a wartime alliance, our two nations our allies in this battle framing ukraine's fight against russia as one for the future of common freedom and shared values the president thinking the u. s for its continued support and calling on congress not to waver. your money is not share itty. it's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way. congress now% mulling over a $1.7 trillion government spending bill, which allocates 45 billion in additional aid for ukraine, we und

justin finch, abc news,washington .thing we have not heard in a while -- a surgeon covid cases forcing a bay area business to close temporarily. the iconic san francisco restaurant will be shut down through sunday. this is video from a few months back. it closed on wednesday because of staff members becoming ill. the cafe's owners say they decided to take preventative measures and close for a few days, prioritizing the health and safety of their team, guests, and community. how to develop and use in hawaii. lava from the volcano is still moving slowly toward a main road on the big island. officials say only one fissure is still active and crews have reported that there is no anymore -- there's not any more activity in the summit. the lava is 2.5 miles away from the highway but could reach in about a week. >> a little bit of progress overnight. but not much. it's really slowed down. it's kind of spread out along the front. larry: officials say it is moving at a slow walking speed. you can see all of the people out there

abc is justin finch is here now with the very latest justin. good morning. man and good morning, the marathon midterm election cycle finally came to a close overnight with democrats now rejoicing in georgia. the people have spoken. senator raphael warnock celebrated his win over herschel walker by recounting his family history, talking about his mother picking cotton as a girl in georgia, example and an iteration of its history. of promise of the brutality and the possibility but because this is america because we always have a path to make our country great. er against against unspeakable odds here we stand together. thank you, georgia. or not, is projected win in georgia's runoff secures at 51 seat majority for democrats in the senate, meaning the party no longer needs to rely on vice president kamala harris to cast tie breaking votes. this puts democrats in a dramatically better position in the senate moving forward to get an advantage on their committees, and they build in a little bit of wiggle room into their majority for future election cycles, acknow

abc is justin finch has the latest justin. good morning. andrew. good morning. at least 28 people have died from this storm, and officials say much needed federal assistance is now on the way. this morning, western new york reeling from the deadliest blizzard and at least 50 years. blizzard is the one for the ages . certainly it is the blizzard of the century, more than a dozen people have been found dead outside in the cold. officials expect that death toll will rise once first responders can reach all neighborhoods already rescued more than 500 people while battling hurricane force winds and seven ft snow drifts in the streets. at one point, nearly every fire truck in buffalo was stuck. and now we're hearing the good and all this how good samaritan stepped in to help their neighbors. i heard him screaming for help. kyra archery pleaded for help on facebook after finding a man screaming in pain outside our home brought the man who was suffering from severe frostbite into her home, but she couldn't get through to 911 or the national guard. can't do no more. i ju

in comparison to what many other states are dealing with around the country abc news reporter justin finch just starting now to recover in, new york. the deep freeze across western new york breaking as temperatures rise. in buffalo the driving band has lifted freeing drivers to dig out and try restarting their cars once buried beneath more than four feet of snow. i really can't use words to explain how bad it was. the power is back online for many the national guard is making door-to-door wellness checks after widespread outages because we are fearful that there are individuals who may have perished the erie county executive going on to call buffalo's response to the monumental storm embarrassing storm after storm after storm after storm. the city unfortunately is the last one to be opened buffalo's mayor responding people have been working around the clocks since the beginning of this storm nationwide the storm now blamed for at least 60 deaths with more than 30 count from the buffalo area, and now buffalo is prepping or another potential weather event flooding due to rising temperatures

abc is justin finch is here with more justin. good morning. good morning, and some americans looking for those over the counter cold and flu treatments are finding empty shelves at pharmacies and drugstores. now that's largely because of this wave of respiratory illnesses came earlier than usual, and stores are now racing to keep up. hospitals nationwide are stretched to their limits amid surging cases of the flu. rsv and covid from new york state. these three viruses are all making it very difficult for us to practice routine medicine to texas hospital is full of rice, useful 80% of adult hospital beds are full, the highest peak since the akron surge. and now hospitals are seeing kobe cases rise again. the cdc director urging americans to consider masking and get their flu and covid vaccines. higher rates of flew higher than we've seen this time of year and over a decade with an earlier than expected spike. some local pharmacies don't have enough supplies of over the counter cold and flu medication on hand. the white house shave the supply ch

abc is justin finch has more from washington. justin. good morning. andrew good morning data from air traffic tracking site flight aware shows well over the cancel flights in the us yesterday were from southwest alone, the latest in the worst case scenario for the airline, prompting the ceos apology and a federal probe. growing frustration and anger at the nation's airports. christmas will just throw in. this was the worst christmas ever stressed and stranded southwest passengers fuming after the airline canceled more than 2500 flights tuesday. following thousands more earlier this week southwest blaming that massive holiday storm for its service cuts and rocky recovery. app on our phone, said that our flight had been canceled. southwest passenger kaylin o connor says her monday flight to pensacola was canceled and the earliest she could rebook was thursday. so she chose to drive 16 hours from kansas city, missouri. hopefully they will. um brand versus southwest ceo bob jordan's apologizing, saying the airlines point to point operating system, which r

this is the unclaimed luggage at the airport in toronto, abc's justin finch. joins us with the latest justin. good morning. andrew good morning, massive snowstorms and chilling cold around the country have left dozens dead, and officials say that death toll is expected to rise. tragic holiday weekend for dozens of families now planning funerals after winter storms nationwide left at least 39 people dead, there is substantial, significant and devastating loss of life as a result of this winter storm in new york, at least 17 people have died from storm related incidents. 10 deaths reported in the city of buffalo alone, and authorities say that number will almost certainly rise with multiple 911 calls reporting deaths that have yet to be confirmed. driving was banned in the area with multiple people found dead in or near their cars were found in cars and somewhere found actually on the street. snowbanks we know there are people stuck in cars for more than two days, and there are people in homes that are below freezing now. temperatures wind gusts approaching 80 mp

s health officials fear it could spawn a new and more dangerous variants that abc justin finch joins us from washington with the very latest good morning, justin. andrew ryan. and good morning the u. s is now the latest country to enforce new restrictions on people traveling from china as china struggles to deal with a crushing wave of covid 19 infections, the cdc is announcing new restrictions on will bred to proofchitohe januf of a negative pcr or antigen test taken within two days of departure. this is an unfortunate but necessary step. given the fact that we don't really know how much covid there is in china, and we don't know the full spectrum of variance. there are the tighter measures introduced because the us is concerned about china's soaring number of cases and the lack of transparency from the chinese government. new images out of china showing overcrowded hospitals and patients waiting in the hallway, some unable to be seen. the third follows the chinese government's decision to ease its so called zero covid policies a few weeks ago after protests sparked across the countr

justin finch has the closing arguments from the candidates. justin good morning. good morning, a record breaking early turnout in georgia suggests voters here are energized and both candidates are baking on high turnout today , rafael warnock in herschel walker going get to head once more after a midterm dead heat. election day again in georgia, now holding the nation's final senate race extended campaign for incumbent democrat raphael warnock in his republican challenger, herschel walker. after neither 1 50% of the vote on election day, sending the race to a run off the stakes are high. and the differences between me and my opponent are too wide. for us to sleep. this is about turnout, and now that means that we got to get in the game georgia breaking records with more than 1.8 million voters casting early ballots, the state's top election officials sensing voters are not only energized but also informed aware of that georgia's open senate seat could tip or balance the senate power scale. i think people understand that 50 50 versus 51 49 is probably a big deal. t

abc is justin finch has the latest now from washington. good morning, justin. rihanna and good morning southwest airlines apologizing this morning as it scrambles to reboot operations after canceling thousands of flights, and al faces an even tougher task of winning back customers trust starting today. southwest airlines aims to end the travel nightmare impacting customers nationwide. my personal apology is the first step of making things right, the air carrier releasing a statement saying, we are encouraged by the progress we've made to realign crew, their schedules and our fleet. southwest has canceled more than 15,000 flights since last week, likely impacting more than a million travelers. what'seing called one of the worst airline meltdowns in u. s history. never seen anything like this. this is absolutely crazy. many stranded southwest customers have spent days without their luggage pe of pocket southwestseen is urging impacted travelers to submit receipts on its website, saying get well honor reasonable request for reimbursement for meals, hotel and alter

abc is justin finch has more on what's at stake, justin good morning. good morning. georgia voters have been here before last electing a senator in 2021 runoff race, and this time incumbent democrat raphael warnock is in another tight fight against him ballot republican herschel walker after neither 1 50% of the midterm vote. georgia senate hopefuls are wrapping up closing arguments trying to rally voters back to the polls again. it's time to have our voices heard and vote counting. i know you might be tired, but can you imagine how tired you are going to be if herschel walker is your senator for the next six years after neither met the 50% threshold for november midterm win republican challenger herschel walker and incumbent rafael or knock are vying once more to be georgia's next senator? and both parties have brought out big names support. mr walker has been talking about issues better of great importance to the people of georgia. like whether it's better to be a vampire or werewolf. he didn't come to talk about hope and change. he came to make fun. of my friend h

abc's justin finch has the latest. orning again. >> reporter: will, good morning to you. police say this all began as some kind of altercation that escalated quite quickly ending with that 19-year-old victim shot several times in just a matter of seconds. this all happening close to 8:00 at the largest mall in the country, shoppers there wrapping up their last-minute holiday shopping when police say an officer heard gunshots coming from the nordstrom store. authorities say surveillance video later showed an altercation between two groups with as many as nine people total turning from verbal to physical and then to that suspect pulling out a gun and shooting that 19-year-old man several times. a mall wide lockdown was quickly called. one woman telling abc she found shelter in a nearby closet saying she barricaded herself in that room as the alarm blared for more than an hour with people yelling and running for safety until that lockdown was lifted and police have not yet named that 19-year-old victim and they are urging

justin finch is in washington. >> newly released images show smiling brittney griner alongside her wifeand top u.s. hostage negotiator ambassador rodrick carstens who brought her home. also in high spirits in this photo shared with abc news taken before her flight to the u.s. greeting every member of the flight crew. she connected with everyone, looked in their eyes, shook hands, got to know their names. >> opening up about her time in russian custody. >> we talked about a lot of things. her love for her wife, her teammates come everything she missed. >> russian state media video capturing some of her time in russian prison. choosing to cut her long hair because conditions inside the prison were so cold washing it left her freezing. she was treated -- he was traded for a convicted russian arms dealer. he had six years left on a 25 year sentence for conspiring to arm a terrorist group to kill americans. she was caught with hashish oil which is banned in russia and sent to nine years in prison to president biden facing criticism for green lighting the deal. >> if you make it clear you're

justin finch has the details. >> a tragic holiday weekend for dozens of families planning funerals now after winter storms nationwide left at least 39 people dead. >> substantial, significant, devastating loss of life as a result of this winter storm. >> storm related incidents blamed for 17 deaths in new york state. 10 in the city of buffalo alone. the toll is expected to rise. multiple people were found dead in or near their cars. >> people that were stuck in their cars for more than two days. people in their homes that are below freezing temperatures. >> the storm dropping nearly four feet of snow, with an extra two feet still possible in some areas. the buffalo airport closed until tomorrow, adding to the growing list of flight cancellations across the country. >> i don't have a choice. i'm going to stay here at the airport. >> thousands of passengers left stranded nationwide, some sleeping in airports. 2800 flights canceled yesterday. 6700 delayed. from coast, treacherous road conditions. brockton, illinois, several injured in an eight vehicle crash. ohio, a deadly dark over the w