. >> i'm dan kloeffler in for rob nelson. on this tuesday.a very difficult story. killing three people including the heart surgeon, a hospital technician, and the pilot. adding to that tragedy, the donor heart that cannot be used in that transplant. >> tragedy all around on that one. also this morning, warnings for parents who give their young children a common liquid for pain relief and fighting fevers. what the fda wants you to know before the next dose. very important information. >> yeah. absolutely. big changes. apparently a. cross the board changes we will have to let you know about coming up. later this half-hour, what is wrong with a classic piece of art? this art right of here of course marking a major moment in american history. the painting showing george washington crossing the delaware, there is a major flaw. >> who knew? >> i am very interested to find out about this one. got to the bottom of this. stick around. >> first this morning. tragic new developments in the crash of the helicopter on an important medical mission. >> the

with rob nelson. in for our own ron claiborne. >>> good morning, everybody.p debate in iowa, that debate seen of course right here on abc was marked by some pretty sharp exchanges between newt gingrich and the five candidates on stage. newt admitted he made mistakes in his personal mistakes and he asked god for forgiveness. >>> iran said that it will not return a captured u.s. spy drone to the u.s. and warned of a quote, bigger response. they did not elaborate. >>> after 22 years behind bars, a strongman manuel noriega left france this morning, he'll finish his sentence in native panama. >>> and finally, robert griffin iii is this year's heisman trophy winner. the first baylor university student to win the award. the junior is a big fan of superheroes. he showed off his superman socks as he accepted the trophy. very cool. >> big move for baylor. go texas. >>> now to the super bowl of weather, here is ginger zee. >> thank you. i was going say, i saw your spiderman socks in the office there. i don't have any of those, but i have a radar to show that will make f

rob nelson has a holiday abroad humbubah humbug. >> internet sales are up 15% this year.s will be the busiest week of the year for online retailers because friday is the last day to order and delivery by christmas without paying extra for shipping. complaints about the amazon's kindle far, no external volume control, easy to give off switch by accident. amazon promises a software updated in the next weeks and arethere may be a new version shortly. 100 new movies are released worldwide each year along with 15,000 new applications and 250 new books. i am rob nelson. >>> time for traffic and weather. >> you have any weather applications? >> we will be launching a very soon. virginia department of fisheries. it's nice to have. >> what about the weather? i was criticized from the windshield this morning. >> there is frost and it is cool. the 34th annual festival of lights, you have to see it in person. pictures don't do it justice. you just need to go. the lights are on from dusk until 10:00 p.m., featuring more than 500,000 lights. let's look at the temperatures. 24 degrees r

>> , rob nelson has wan expert opinion. >> modern warfare 3 has earned $1 billion in sales in 16 days. last year's quality game was the best-selling video game of all time. now all but one is well on its way to topping it. according to sports illustrated, the best sports video game of the year is nba 2k 12. >> it gives you an amazing basketball simulations, but also combine that with experience of being able to play from different areas with different players, something we have never seen before in any sports game. >> the game is a bill for all major and gaming platforms. i am rob nelson. >>> adam caskey disagrees with that assessment that the nba game is the best. >> i am a bit of a game. i play sometimes in the basement. nhl 2012. my buddy and i take on the teenagers all the time. >>> it's hard to roll hall of bed this morning. -- roll out of bed. >> frosty. >> you know that you will have to scrape the windshield in the '20s. let's get moving. it's one of those days where things will be warmer than yesterday afternoon. at least we have something to look forward to. look at some of t

i am rob nelson. >>> let's look at traffic and weather. >>adam caskey joins us. out there. >> in the 40's. normally and you would be scraping the frost from the windshield. it would be near freezing. that's not the case this morning. >> you can sleep late because you don't have to scrape the windshield. >> don't get used to these conditions. the cold front is moving in and around midnight. temperatures will be telling tour today tomorrow. freezing temperatures into the weekend. afternoon highs will be near normal. seasonable air mass moving back into place. not right now, not seasonable. 45 degrees right now at reagan national. 47 in quantico. 45 in manassas. a little cooler north west of town. 41 degreein the 30's in cumberland. that is an exception. there's rain in the ohio valley in advance of a cold front march in our way. the front will hit around midnight. not all that much rain expected. it's not going to be a washout today. west of interstate 81 in the first areas of rain will move in late this morning and especially near lunchtime. locally and along the

. >>> all right, let's check the other top stories developing right now with rob nelson who's in for claiborne. good to see you, rob. >> good morning, guys. good to be back here. good morning, everyone. >>> we're just days before former penn state coach jerry sandusky faces his accusers in court. we've learned of a contradiction in one eye many witness account of his alleged abuse of boys. a pennsylvania newspaper says former graduate assistant mike mcqueary told a family friend a different version of events that he witnessed back in 2002, that he heard what he called sex sounds from a shower but that he didn't actually see anything sexual. that is at odds with mcqueary's previous statements about sandusky. >>> to yet another sex scandal unfolding in the sports world this morning, this one involving one of the country's biggest youth sports organizations. an interview with espn two men accuse the ex-president of the aau of sexually assaulting them when they were children. now police are investigating. more from clayton sandell. >> reporter: for any parent with a kid playing youth spor

rob nelson is here with the details. good morning, rob. >> good morning.ere. a truly unthinkable situation. faking such a serious illness just to raise some extra cash. the woman, though, has been caught in her lie. with her supporters, including her own husband and kids, now feeling duped and hurt. >> i am still here. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: martha nicholas's story has touched many in her small virginia town. >> martha, you're my hero. you inspire me to never give up and never surrender. >> my diagnosis is terminal. each night, i wonder if it will be the last. >> reporter: she's been very outspoken about her fight with cancer, calling herself a three-time survivor and even current battler of the disease. now, it seems her story was a ruse for money and attention. >> i was 22 years old when i was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. back then, i didn't know what an oncologist was. >> reporter: for months, there had been local fund-raisers to help her pay for cancer treatments. but in april, the local sheriff's office received a tip that m

i'm dan kloeffler in for rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin. the u.s.of a drone last week over afghanistan. so this could be that missing spy plane, but the question is -- why hasn't iran shared pictures of it to prove the drone was shot down? >> yeah, a lot of back and forth. what is the real story? we'll take a look at that in a minute. also this morning, country sing er mccready was found in a closet with her son zander. what is next for her and her son? this bizarre custody battle is increasing. >> she is pregnant with twins. a lot involved there. later this half-hour, history is made in scotland where two pandas arrived from china. talk about a party that if got the royal treatment. even a parade. >> panda watch. monday morning style. but first on this monday though, could one of the most cutting edge american spy planes being in enemy hands this morning? well iran is claiming it shot down a new generation of u.s. drones inside its borders and it is vowing now to retaliate. >> but if it is true the bigger threat could come from what secrets the dro

rob nelson, abc news, new york. >> see that punch? >> wow, just tired of people taking what doesn't belong to them. >> crime doesn't pay. that's the bottom line. >>> here's a look at your weather. a wet day from florida up to new england. severe storms snow in detroit. cincinnati, knoxville. pacific northwest. >> 45, billings. 42, salt lake city, 56, sacramento. 39, chicago. 45, kansas city. upper 50s in dallas and new orleans. miami, 81. boston, 48. >> baby it is cold outside. >>> the excitement only building right now in the himalayan nation of nepal. why you ask? >> because right now they're in the middle of the 8th annual international elephant races. more than 20 elephants started the competition yesterday, racing on a 300-yard track. in addition to excitement on the course the elephants participate in beauty contests and soccer matches. >> it all comes to an end tomorrow. good things can't last, right? the finals are tomorrow. obviously. good luck out there. best of luck to those that have to clean up the field afterward, that i

i'm sunny hostin. >> and i'm rob nelson.

. >> and i'm rob nelson.mixed with rain could be causing a slushy mess across the heavily populated northeast over the next 24 hours. and the storm could hit the same areas in fact, still trying to recover from that nor'easter that made halloween look a lot more like christmas. well if you didn't think it was winter you will know it is now. >> it's here. also this morning, alec baldwin's war of words on twitter after american airlines flight attendants threw him off a flight. he was playing a game on his cell phone and reap fused to turn it off. >> this is the dumbest story of the morning. shut off the game. and let the plane. what are they going to do? >> some people don't want to turn their cell phones off. it doesn't do anything to the plane. if your cell phone can take the plane down. none of us should be flying. >> i agree. aleck had a temper tantrum on the plane the i don't get it. let you be the judge in a few seconds. later this half-hour the tunes you listen to in your car can influence your driving

i'm rob nelson. >>> 5:13. a 7-year-old boy has died from injuries he suffered when he fell off a ski lift near take tahoe sunday morning at the sugar bowl ski resort he fell 50 feet on to a mix of dirt and snow he was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his skull. the unidentified youngster was a member of the sugar bell ski team. state regulators are investigating. >>> this morning federal aviation officials will release new rules aimed at preventing pilots from flying after dangerously fatigued. in february 2009 the crash in buffalo new york killed 50 people. it will limit the number of hours pilots can fly and set the minimum for rest time between flights. fatigue can slow a pilot's reelections and erode judgment like alcohol ask >>> japan has a new cleanup plan for the nuclear plant hit by last march's earthquake and tsunami. the fukushima daiichi plant went into meltdown and leaked massive amounts of radiation 100,000 were forced to evacuate. removing melted f

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin. one of the passengers is a florida grandmother in her 80s who gets around with a walker. she says tsa demanded a strip search. she went through with it. now her son and lawmakers want to make sure this never happens again. >> i didn't even know people were being strip searched by the tsa. >> leave the grandmother as loan. >> very bizarre story here. fallout from the iowa gop debate. new questions about newt gingrich and how mitt romney's $10,000 bet noise back firing. >> later this half-hour, michael jackson cal jackson's daughter paris gets her first starring movie role. could this be her first step in hollywood? >> we have the push to protect elderly airline passengers from being subjected to humiliating strip searches. >> two new york lawmakers are calling on the tsa to create a position, advocates, strike a balance between passenger safety and dignity. >> reporter: two senators believe that each and every airport needs a passenger advocate. under their new proposal, an advocate co

i'm sunny hostin. >> i'm rob nelson.ys he was molested by his coach when he was 15 years old. we will hear the disturbing details and find out why he is now going public decades later. unbelievable. we seem to be in a downward spirals, penn state, syracuse, now this. >> it seems to be happening everywhere. maybe we're just learning more about it. >> coming more into the light now. >>> next, what an american teenager did to escape from kidnappers in the philippines. an unbelievable story of survival involving a very clever boy. >> we'll hear his story coming up. >>> later this half-hour, mothers struggling to pay the bills turn to medical experimentation to come up with extra cash. they're human guinea pigs for drug studies. and there are some serious pros and some serious cons. >> it's the economy i suppose. scary business. >> be careful. >> the latest child sex scandal to rock the sports world. this time, one of the largest sports organizations in the country is under fire. >> scary stuff here. amateur athletic union re

. >> here's abc's rob nelson. >> in today's "tech bytes," andrew narrows the app gap. users are downloading a billion applications a month. google's android market just passed 10 billion downloads and is celebrating by offering some apps at 10 cents apiece. new software lets you play more graphically-enhanced games on apple and android phones and tablets. it uses cloud computing running the games off its servers and delivering them over the internet. hewlett-packard reportedly is about to blow out some more of its discontinued touch pads. republished tablets will go on sale on ebay this sunday at $99 each. and a study by parenting magazine finds that 90% of mothers say they have friended their kids on facebook mostly to keep an eye on what they're doing. most of the other 10% log in as someone else to monitor their kids. and those are your "tech bytes." i'm rob nelson. >> all righty. time now 5:19. steve rudin is here. what do you have for us? >> better day today than yesterday, although it's hard to top the nastyness yesterday with three inches of rain at reagan natio

i'm rob nelson. >>> their dad has been seffing overseas in iraq and they asked santa to see him for the holidays. with the help of santa and bass pro shop, the kids got they wish. >> i would give up everything i have for my dad. >> you know what would have been cool, if they dad was dressed up as santa. time for a check of the forecast, let's go to justin. >> bring you back to mount airy, this is a beautiful time lapse display. number one , the high clouds that moved through yesterday. we captured a bird we think is a raven over mount aries. redskins fans live out. there they have nothing to cheer about. put that thing away. it's not hunting season. we got a look now at the clouds that dispersed. clears skies. we take you to annapolis, that was a gorgeous day as well with a misof high clouds. the moon coming up. hopefully see that on the wide screen. temperatures are down to about 30, nearby edgemere, 31 stevensville. inland down to 19 ellicott city. pops up to 29 near sykesville, clear skies. temperatures mid-20s this morning. a widespread, hard to pinpoint that with the frost. we will

. >> and i'm rob nelson. president obama has been on the phone with u.s. al lice in the region overnight following the announcement of kim jong-il's death. >> the "dear leader" died of a heart attack on friday at sage 69. abc's joohee cho joins us live. >> reporter: it was shocking news here today when north carolina gave hea-- north koreae announcement. their announcer was in black funeral clothes in tears. he died during a train ride. he left us so suddenly, so sadly, she said. kim suffered a stroke three years ago, but recently, he was actively making trips to china and russia and within his country, all on camera, as if to show off that he was well and healthy. his third son is already in power, taking high-ranking posts. but there are speculations that hard-line military officials are against the succession. the problem is the lack of information. we don't know what is going on inside of north korea. will there be a peaceful success or a coup? we don't know. >> north korea's nuclear ambition. do we have a sense of what his death could mean for the u.s

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin. we'll take you live to seoul, south korea, for this morning's breaking news, the death of north korea's kim jong-il, who inherited his power from his father and passed it along to his son. we will have the latest developments. >> that son perhaps ready to take control of that country. an unpredictable nation. now, a lot of growing uncertainty with his passing. we'll see how this plays out on the world stage, as news of his death continues to spread this morning. >>> also, history is made in iraq, as the american pullout is now complete. hear what service men and women said as they left, and see how they're being welcomed home. can imagine, some very happy soldiers. >> that's true. >>> and later this half hour, he's 14 and he's been living his dream as a competitive high school cheerleader. now, someone wants to take that dream away. >>> but before all of that, new details following the death of north korea's long-time leader. funeral services for kim jong-il are set for december 28th,

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin. the mayor of stanford, connecticut calls yesterday one of the worst ever in his town's history. we're learning the house was under renovation before the inferno that killed five people. >> you have to put yourself in the woman's shoes, both your parents. your three children all killed in one fire on christmas. i can't begin to imagine. >> i can't wrap my brain around it when i heard of this news on christmas morning. >> heartbreaking. violence there, awful scene down outside of dallas. just, hate to bring you bad news. unfortunately the holidays, sometimes awful things happen. another example. >>> this morning, president obama spent christmas visiting the troops, observing the holiday with his family. >>> in church in his native hawaii, president obama's re-election campaign is taking a new focus aiming his efforts at younger voters. >>> and later this half-hour, our take on steven spielberg's new animated movie, "adventures of tintin," despite its disappointing showing at the box off

i'm dan kloeffler sitting in for rob nelson. >> and i'm sunny hostin. we begin with morning with a possible threat to u.s. security. iran says they have shot down a u.s. drone. the cutting edge technology may have fall on the america's enemies. abc's tahman bradley joins us from washington. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning, dan and sunny. the aircraft was reportedly used to spy on osama bin laden's compound in pakistan. now iran says it's recovered the aircraft. the claim was made on iranian state television that they shot down and captured an unmanned u.s. spy plane. they say it was the rq-170. a secret groan that can presumably go without detection. it could be a significant capture, if true. >> important secrets can be lost by looking at the kind of material on the skin or looking at the kinds of shapes employed. >> reporter: the u.s. military acknowledges that a reconnaissance plane crashed. official says it was not shot down. a senior u.s. military official says that the military is "assuming iran has something." there are provisions

. >> and i'm rob nelson. welcome to a megamonday. retailers are hoping for jam-packed stores again today. >> the national retail chains are welcoming bargain hunters this morning. both at 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. most macy's, sears, and target stores open at 7:00 a.m. >> this day after christmas is critical for retailers. t.j. winick explains. >> my pillow pet. >> i'm a woman with hats. >> i'm here to get great toys and great deals. >> reporter: it's the day after christmas. for many, that means returning to the malls. >> there's going to be a loft people exchanging stuff. that's more complicated than a regular purchase, i think. >> reporter: traditionally, the week after christmas is for up to 10% of holiday sales. those looking for bargains can expect big discounts op home goods and degree rations. target says they'll cut by 50%. >> that's great time for shoppers to get out and get bargains. >> reporter: it was a better than expected season for retailers. sales are expected to jump nearly 4% this year. >> we estimate that online sal

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin.s just 18 days out, candidates for the republican presidential nomination squared off in the final debate of 2011. front-runner newt gingrich, of course, the target, of course, of many opponents' jobs. but standing tall, gingrich says he is the only one who can beat president obama. >> interesting debate last night. only the 60, 70th time they have debated. they have got to be tired. they came out swinging again last night. get to that in a second. >>> also this morning, immigration battle. the man who calls himself america's toughest sheriff is the center of a scathing report from the u.s. justice department. why sheriff joe arpaio says there is nothing but a politically motivated attack by the white house. >> immigration, another hot button issue. another issue in the presidential run. >> that's right. >>> small wonder. one of the world's tiniest premature babies ever is going home. she was born four months early weighing less than a can of soda. she is simply a tiny miracle. >> the

i am rob nelson. >>> now "good morning maryland." >>> welcome back. mountains of north caroline saw a few inches of snow overnight. windy conditions made it look worse than it was for drivers but they slowed down. the snow could be gone by today. highs are expected to be back in the mid-50s. >>> great video for you snow not being missed this is the lava from a big flow in an island out in the ocean. the lava is about one and a half miles to the right of the ocean right now. now the volcano has been continuously erupting since 1983. and i always love seeing lava video justin. >>> -- not helicopters, lava. >> yeah. the contrast from extreme heat to temperatures in the 30s this morning. i want to know how many of youran to the window to see white looked like outside in charley was one and i was another. north of the border, we had snow this morning. although i knew when i saw the moonlight i was in trouble. waiting for the hate mail and we will have a blog posted this morning where you get to grade my forecast. we always hold ourselves accountable and ev

i'm dan kloeffler in for rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin.rs were there for a huge military procession at kim jong-il's funeral and the dictator's faithful followers were seen on state tv sobbing at the sight. >> definitely some interesting pictures. we'll get a report in just a minute. >>> also this morning, outrage aimed at capitol hill. a lot of people fired up about this. a new study showing how many of our leaders are millionaires. insiders are asking do wealthy lawmakers lose touch with the average american. >> that's the question especially in a recession and with what has been going on economically in our country. big money on capitol hill. >>> and later this half-hour, an innovative way for parents to save money. instead of spending a fortune on toys kids outgrow, how about renting them? >> seems like a good money saving idea. germs are the first thing that will come to mind. >> wish i would have known that before christmas day. >> rotate them out. we'll get details. >>> first, we want to start, after ten days of mourning north korea

. >> and i'm rob nelson. millions watched the abc presidential debate over the weekend. >> it has mitt romney still explaining this morning. >> tahman bradley is live in washington with the details. and some new reaction from the president. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning, rob and sunny. the mitt romney campaign is in overdrive. trying to slow newt gingrich's momentum. they're destrakted at trying to explain comments, a bet that mitt romney made during saturday's debate. made during saturday's debate. unable to land a knockout blow, he's scrambling to stop newt gingrich's surge. first he faces fallout from a wager made at saturday's abc news/yahoo! debate. >> i read your first book, it said in there your mandate, in massachusetts, which should be the model for the country -- >> you know what, you have raised that before. you're still wrong. i'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> reporter: twitter exploded with outrage. $so,000 is more than two months' income for the average iowa fam

. >> and i'm dan koeffler, in for rob nelson today. four candidates are on a mad dash across iowa today. >> with a whole of host in his favor, all eyes are on mitt romney. >> tahman bradley is tracking the latest for us from washington. tahman, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, sunny and dan. this weekend, it's the final push for the republicans in iowa. there will be plenty of campaign events and plenty of negative ads. all while mitt romney, the new front-runner in iowa, tries to come up with a strong finish. the republican presidential candidates will spend new year's weekend hunting for votes. mitt romney is riding high. >> i feel like breaking in the 76 trombones. i will not do that right now. >> reporter: the latest gallup poll shows the former massachusetts governor leads the poll marbly. newt gingrich is following in four points. romney is up 5%. gingrich, down 14%. romney's trying to close the deal in iowa by arguing he's the best candidate to defeat president obama. >> the american ideals of economic freedom and

i am rob nelson. >>> now "good morning maryland." >>> heavy overnight rain took out a section of a bridge in memphis, tennessee that leeks up to 50 families without a way to drive or get out since the road is the only way in or out of their somebody division. it could take several days to get the bridge fixed. but work can't start until the rain stops. and the water below the road recede. in the meantime, county public works crews are working to build another road into the community. >>> time for a check of the forecast with just in. >> our rain is not that heavy right now but we have some of that showing up on maryland's most powerful doppler radar and there may be sprinkles. scale this back and we will show you where there's rain pushing to the north of bel air and hickory and heading up towards delta and crossing the line with the susquehanna and p.a. border. we are looking at are bands of rain. another wave of low pressure riding along the frontal boundary. cold air dives south and we will wait for the next wave to push through. things getting interesting heading through wednesday nig

i'm rob nelson. >>> a display, one man paying tribute to our soldiers, specifically wounded marine corps members and the funds go to help them. this is in tallahassee, florida. it's for an incredible cause. >>> and one oregon family decided they couldn't compete with their families. they put up a simple light display that says "ditto." people come from all over the region to see the lights. this one in particular at this house. the owners hand out hand-painted decorations and have the music play. the family says this is a tribute to their neighbors' hard work. i bet you justin they didn't help them put up the lights. >> what they said. that's classic. ditto on the utility bill as well. >> probably not. >>> the models i think cut short this rain. we were trying to go over some of the data and it appears as if the rain not only has advanced farther to the east as the models suggested but we had to account for the mid-level winds trying to carry that moisture. you can see that cloudiness, there's moisture back there. if anything we cloud up and turn mostly cloudy to overcast. it's a dark mo

>> and i'm rob nelson. call it a seismic turnaround for the newt gingrich campaign. fresh off his face-to-face meeting with the donald. >> our new poll overnight shows gingrich with a 15-point lead heading into the iowa caucuses, which are just four weeks from today. >> almost there. and it is a race few would have expected just a few weeks ago. tahman bradley breaks it down for us this morning. >> reporter: our new abc news/"washington post" poll, is encouraging news for newt gingrich's campaign, on the economy and the candidate most likely to defeat president obama, gingrich tops the republican presidential field in iowa. with just a month to go before voting begins, a new abc news/"washington post" poll out this morning, shows the size of newt gingrich's lead in iowa. among the republicans planning to attend the iowa caucuses, 33% favor the former house speaker. and 43% of likely caucus attendees says gingrich has the best experience to win. >> it's a great honor to have newt up here. it's amazing how well he's doing. >> reporter: surging in polls, gingrich travel

those are your tech bites, i am rob nelson. >>> good morning maryland." >>> four poplar ohio holiday attraction is being in danger of being washed-out. it is famous for the dazzling light displays but the 3 1/2 million lights has to be turned off until the waters recede. the owners are hopeful they will be able to do that by today. a lot of people across the midwest and the deep south experiencing a different type of weather for the season. torrential rains out there, justin. >> we have got torrential rains here. maryland's most powerful doppler radar is wet and the heavy rain rolling up 95. i promise you it will get into the beltway. bwi. i wonder if they have delays because of the heavy rain. it's about to approach downtown baltimore. and we have it on down to the south. in fact check this out. annapolis is in on the heavy rain and your bubble is about popped. that's 50 off toward washington, d.c. the local people who live in that town believe they have the protective bubble that hold true often and the weather skirts around them. but we have it and we are looking at temperatures f

. >> good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson.have been saying hang up, concentrate and just drive for years. especially after a string of deadly accidents blamed on texting or talking while on the phone. now they want an all-out ban on electronic communications, even the hands-free stuff. will drivers, though, get the message? this is an ongoing conversation. >> i don't text and drive. you have got to be able to talk on the phone. >> so ingrained in our lifestyle. >> people in california are never going to go for this. >>> also this morning, more controversy for a florida a & m university after a young woman on the marching band says she was badly injured during a hazing incident. her disturbing story and legal action. >> yet another hazing scandal. >> unbelievable. >>> and later this half-hour, more proof man's best friend can be a lifesaver. holly the dog was a christmas present last year. this year she is being credited with saving her owner's life. >> she is cute. >> cute dog. >>> first, the numbers are disturbing. more than

. >> and i'm rob nelson. we begin, now, with a developing story. that american aide worker kidnapped from his pakistani home back in august is now an al qaeda hostage. >> that's the claim of the terror group's leader who says they won't release aaron weinstein until demands are met. >> reporter: good morning, rob. good morning, sunny. aaron weinstein is the first american kidnapped in pakistan since danny pearl was executed in 2002. it's come as a shock to people here. weinstein was a development expert over 70 years old. his work was uncontroversial. he worked with people like furniture sellers and dairy farmers, which makes al qaeda's demands all that more extraordinary. ayman al zawahiri, listing nine demands, including nato end air strikes in pakistan and afghanistan. and release of taliban prisoners from everywhere, including guantanamo bay. u.s. officials dismissing those demands as a bit out landish. >> is kidnapping a new tactic being used by al qaeda? >> reporter: it hasn't been used in pakistan since pearl was kidnapped in 2002. but u.s.

i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm sunny hostin. americans across the south and southwest, are about to share their shivering and snow shovels with the northeast. >> it's already snowing in tennessee. and by tomorrow, states all the way up to maine will feel the freeze from this big system. >> abc's tahman bradley shows us where it's been and where it's going. >> reporter: the east coast is bracing for a blast of winter. snow and rain that pushed through western and central states, now threatens to strike several major east coast cities. across the southwest, residents are digging out, after snow shut down interstates and closed schools. in roswell, new mexico, it looks like christmas arrived early. >> i love the snow. >> normally, we don't have snow until january or february. this is a great surprise. it makes everybody get excited about christmas. and makes it feel like it's winter, finally. >> reporter: in albuquerque, temperatures dropped into the single digits, almost 30 degrees below average. >> below freezing. i know that. >>

i'm rob nelson. confidence. available in color. depend for women is now peach.looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. confidence, with depend in color. now available in gray. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. >>> welcome back. talk about the weather in 2011, it was wild. tornadoes, hurricanes and blizzards, but it was the snow and ice that kicked off the wild year that was to come. lynette charles is standing by with Ñla reminder of what we faced. i traveled to one of the cities, joplin, missouri, in june. and firsthand, that damage was incredible. >> yes, chaley, that tornado was devastating. we had lots of tornadoes even across our area. 2011 started with a lot of slipping and sliding. memorial day missed a lot of this but a -- maryland missed a lot of this but a series of ice storms battered the country in the southeast where the communities are not equipped to handle the wrath of winter roads. they went untreated and air passengers went nowhere. the spring bro