russell westbrook, nifty with the left hand. thunder up by ten. on, nowitzki, leading the break. and kevin durant with the steal to westbrook. now, to kendrick perkins. he jams it home. thunder win, 97-83. >>> i'm don bell. that will do it for this espn news update. >> good to see basketball again. >>> there's no dashing through the snow in florida. so, santa has found a cool way to get around, by boat. >> he made a special stop in florida. and were joined by girls for a fishing trip. santa said some of the kids didn't tell him what was on their christmas wish. they're just satisfied to spend time with him. >> good for those kids. santa is very -- he can multitask. >> he sure can. >> we'll get there. >>> coming up next, can you hear me now? how rabid fans of next summer's batman movie are already forcing the studio to make a major change. >>> are you dreaming of a white christmas but missing the snow? then just fake it. those stories coming up in "the pulse." >>> welcome back, everybody. time to check "the pulse," the stories you'll be talking abo

westbrook had once served prison time for aggravated assault. westbrook pleads guilty to nine charges, including aggravated assault and battery. he's sentenced to 63 years in prison. officer steven rankin testifies at his sentencing. >> i wanted to testify to -- basically testify to him what he did to me and testify to the courts to let them know that he needed to be punished for the max. >> this ordeal takes an enormous toll on rankin. for 18 weeks after the shooting he's in a neck brace. the bullet blows out 70% of his jawbone and all his teeth on the top right side. the bullet still sits in his spine. >> i can feel the bullet in my neck. every once in a while it will pop or it will send like shots of pain up through the neck and into the head. >> steven rankin knows he is a lucky man. he attributes his survival to divine intervention in the form of his father, mike, who died in 1994 when steven was just a teenager. >> as soon as i blacked out, i saw my father. and so like i said, i thought that he was kind of welcoming me into heaven. to me,

and thanks to dick westbrook for making the journey from the north country to come here. let me say something about the book. there are plenty of seats. should keep you company. so in graduate school, like most students of international relations, i started the second world war. and the conflict with the soviet union. from 2007 to 2009, i was counselor of the department of state and spent a lot of time fretting about the taliban and al qaeda and the iranian revolutionary guard corps. after leaving government and finish the book on america's most persistent and important animated ball. canada. that is the subject of this book conquered into liberty. describes how the american metaphor originated in canada because from the end of the seventeenth century to the first half of the nineteenth, it was anything but the sleepily frontier today, a menace and innovation. conquered into liberty is about a particular place. what native americans called the great war path. that 200 mile stretch of water between albany and montreal. the book is framed -- to give you a field staff here i

colleagues that i appreciate everybody on the panel, particularly my friend, nick westbrook, for making the journal frey from the north -- journey from the north country to come here. i'll say more thank yous at the end of this, but let me now say something about the book. those of you who are standing along the back wall, there are plenty of seats up front. the dean is lonely, you should keep her company. [laughter] okay. so in graduate school, like most students of international relations, the path that e studied was the second world war, and the present was the cold war and our conflict with the soviet union. from 2007 to 2009, as professor duran has hold you, i was counselor of the department of state, and i spent a lot of my time fretting about the taliban and al-qaeda and the iranian revolutionary guard corps. so after leaving government i came back and finished a book on america's most persistent, effective and, i would argue, important enemy of all. canada. [laughter] it describes how war originated, the northern border of ours was anything but the sleepily, undefended frontier

throws the to russell westbrook. watch this here. bounce pass. durant. monster dunk.the youngster. and durant. oh, yeah. he its pumped. second quarter. 13. durant. storms the bucket. 14 points first half. thunder up. third quarter. more from the suitland native. helped defense from the magic. well no help at all. durant the hoop and the harm. finished with game high 30 points. how awhat a kiss for his mother, wanda. oklahoma city. defeats orlando. tin texas. rematch of the nba final. the mavericks unveiling their championship banner. american airlines center. lebron james and the heat. playing role of the grinch. pick it up second quarter. miami up. dirk nowitzki. and dwayne wade to help. this is helpful. comes up with the block. chris bosh for the dunk. big three. coming up big. wade, heat turning defense into offense. miami 62-41 at the break. third quarter now. heft up by 28. lebron. backing down the defender. top of your screen. hits the fadeaway jumper. plus the foul. james, game high. 37 points. 10 rebound. six assists. and less than a minute. miami in transitio

russell westbrook finds the ramp for the sick reverse dunk. late in the fourth quarter, memphis down 92-88. and rudy gay is going to get the baseline jumper to go for 19 points. the grizzlies down two. ensuing possession. under a minute to play. it's the two-time leading scorer with a fadeaway. he finished with 32 points. oklahoma city wins 98-95. off to a perfect start. miami, oklahoma city, nba final. >>> i'm bernardo osuna, with your espn update. >>> the usual holiday bowl was decidedly offensive last night. texas was taking on cal. and david ash became the fourth quarterback in holiday bowl history to catch a touchdown pass. texas tacked on another touchdown in the fourth quarter. and they win, 21-10. >>> and a traditional dinner at another bowl game site almost turned tragic. the team from oregon was enjoying its prime rib at the annual beef bowl ahead of the rose bowl game. dinner was on, when the father of a player started choking. so, oregon guard, mark ashford came to the rescue. >> i didn't catch his name. but the universal help me s