The soviet union led to the icy relations with the u. S. In the cold war. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a Nuclear Strike capability against the western hemisphere. Reporter while his allies agreed to remove their missiles, castros animosity towards the u. S. Survived. In 1999, the custody battle over Elian Gonzalez playing out as castro demanded the his mother had drowned while escaping with him to the u. S. Armed u. S. Agents forcibly removing the boy from his miami relatives, returning him to his father in cuba. And there is guantanamo bay, the naval base leased by the u. S. From the casino toe regime since 1959 after the controversial practice of housing terror suspects, castro repeatedly denounced the u. S. Being used to do americas dirty work. Ten american president s tried to isolate castro and hope for his demise. Then in 2013, this defining moment, president obama shaking hands with president raul castro at Nelson Mandelas funeral, paving the way for renewed diplomatic relations. This is not merely symbolic, with this change well be able to suustantially increase our contacts with e reporter in 2015, the two president s meeting again as obama calls for the 53yearold embargo to finally be lifted. 7 02, and heres your first alert, dry statewide, high clouds streaming from west to east, a beautiful start to our saturday. This is from our wireless cam. A mix of sun and clouds, gradually clearing skies. Downtown denver, a cool start to the day. 36 at the airport where winds are currently from the temperatures warm to the upper 50s, low 60s. 62 our expected high in denver. A mix of sun and clouds. Greeley, fort collins, and boulder should stay dry across the front range and the mountains for today. A big change is coming. Here are our high temperatures. 47 in aspen. 44 for steam boat. Low 50s across the western slope and Grand Junction. It will feel pleasant across the northeastern range. A big storm is coming. It cculd affect travel plans going tohe and from tomorrow. For the most part, snow is on the way. Some great news for our resort towns. Well take a look at the timing, exactly when it should hit coming up in just a few. This state trooper killed on the side of i25 south of castle rock. Cody donahue was an 11 year veteran of csp. A semitruck hit him yesterday afternoon killing him as he was responding to an accident. A criminal investigation is underway, and that truck driver investigators say trooper donahue was on the outside of his vehicle wearing his safety vest, and this tragedy, a little more than a year after trooper jamie jersovichs was killed. He was a good family man, has two beautiful children, and will be sorely missed. A good team guy, all the troopers could always count on him for support hell be really missed. The trooper leaves behind a wife and two kids. A go fund me page is set up for the family. Heartbroken for the troopers family and also to see another tragedy she believes could have been prevented. Jolene torres says yesterdays tragedy brings back a lot of emotions after losing her own crash when a drunk driver ran into her and killed her. Her mom hopes these tragedies send a strong message to everyone to move over, especially when men and women in blue are conducting a traffic stop. I know that the state patrol and community will ally around the family rally around the family, like they did us. They rallied around us and helped us get through one of the most difficult times in our life, and to the thankful, be courteous, be considerate and just please Pay Attention when you get behind the wheel, because peoples lives depend on it. The man who hit and killed jamie, retired colonel Eric Henderson was convicted to 8 years in prison. She left behind a husband and new baby. All day yesterday, other Law Enforcement agencies have been sending their condolences to csp. We have seen messages of metro fire. This is now the fourth Law Enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty in colorado this year. Nationwide, 2016 has seen 132 officers killed in the line of duty. There is no denying that armed men and women in blue have a tough and often thankless job. More and more people are coming forward to say thank you to them. We have this picture of Aurora Police officers help moving a homeless man and belongings away from traffic. Going viral. The fact that they stop and help it, warmth my heart. Guys around the country do this stuff every day. Most of the time it doesnt get noticed. Sometimes the small things help out the most. And appreciation for Law Enforcement are flooding facebook. We know the Holiday Season is here, and its time for a lot of us to give back, and for a community in aurora, thats what theyre doing. Volunteers will be gathering brand new roof on a church in need. Amanda del castillo is live with the details. Good morning amanda. Reporter good morning, the season of giving is well upon us and thats what the focus is today. At around 8 00 a. M. , its going to be plenty of volunteers. Theyre going to be repairing some of these roofs here. Not just one, not just two, but were told three roofs on church propertyyare going to be this is all additionally church repairs like painting, dry walling and gardening will also be done today, and this is because the church was nominated by members of its parish by interstate roofing in denver. So well be following developments as the morning continues. Just a really good story to kind of talk about this morning. People giving back to other businesses and churches here in reporting live in lakewood, im amanda del Castillo Denver 7. Still ahead, donald trump continues to get his white house staff together. Hes added two more to his list of staffers. Details on them and the new controversy its stirring up. The president elect spending his thanksgiving day. Welcome back, everybody. Look at this great start to your saturday. Some interesting clouds in the sky, some sun out there as weve got plenty of snow heading to the mountains, it looks like, and checking that out for us, and hopefully get out and enjoy Small Business saturday. Its going to be a nice day for it. President elect donald trump announced two more staffers to his white house team. He named former republican administrator official, katie mac farland as his Deputy National security adviser, and counsel. Accusing russia of meddling in the president ial election. A russian state entity, and then you smile. Whats that. Thats an admission that in fact theyre doing it, and why do they do it, because they can get away with it. Trump still has to choose his pick for secretary of state in addition to mitt romney and rudy giuliani, retired general david petraeus, retired marine john kelly, and bob corker are in the running for that Green Party Candidate jacksonville stein has filed a request for a recount. Steins campaign has been raising money online to cover the cost of recounts in wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania. She wants to make sure hackers did not skew the results in those swing states. President elect donald trump is spending his thanksgiving holiday at his estate in florida. This has a rich history spanning generations. We take a look at this property that trump has turned into a pay to play resort. 20acre marlago estate is a journey into a guilded age of ornate, wealth and extravagance, the old world sitting on the coast of florida. Its like walking into a place, you know, that is a fairy tale. Reporter malalaga was built in the 1920s, by mary weather post. Her family founded the post empire. At the time she was the wealthiest woman in the united states. Palm beach daily news editor Shannon Donnelly says for decades the towns high society luminaries were entertained on these grounds. She would have square dance parties every friday night. It was a very coveted information. Post died in 1973, and she will be an estate to the u. S. Government to use as a diplomatic and president ial retreat, but president s never use it had and it became so costly to maintain that the federal government decided to sell it. Thats when donald trump moved and all of the an technique furnish antique furnishings inside for 10 million. He bragged to the Washington Post about how the deal went down. According to trump his initial offer for the property was rejected so he turned around and bought an adjacent property and threatened to build a large hideous house on it that would block the view of the ocean. Trump claims that drove the Property Value down, and thats snatch up maralago. Thats the deal of the century. Reporter and describing a financial albatross for trump. The Property Maintenance alone was costing a forttne. It turned out to be one of the investments that created problems. When he became sort of crunched with money, and he needed to do something, this house was just a, you know, sort of a weight on his shoulders and he had to do something with it. Thats how the club thing came about. Reporter first trump wanted serve individual lots. Trump came up with the idea of turning it into the an exclusive club, where members would pay 100,000 membership fee and 14,000 in annual dues. Donald trump keeps a secluded private residence on the property. This is where trump married his wife melania in 2005. Its a tremendously Successful Club, and im so glad i did it, and im veey very proud of it. Reporter and more than 40 years after marjorie maryweather posts death. Its exactly what she dreamed it would be. Reporter a president ial retreat on the florida coast. A violent brawl captured on video breaking out at a california mall. Amazon black friday, and switch to centurylink and get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month. Thats the speed you need to stream. Game. Connect on social media. Learn, shop and more with fast inhome wifi. So call 844565link. Get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month for one year call today. At least two deadly shootings and all out brawls broke out in stores. More than 100 million americans flooded the stores yesterday on track for a record day of holiday sales. Take a look at this. Customers in mississippi caught in a tug of war reportedly over a dvd gaming system and chaos in a georgia walmart as people threw towels to try to get the best deals. Reportedly over a parking spot turning deadly. Thats one of three black friday shootings. Another man was killed outside of a new jersey mall, also reportedly over parking. Then theres this, an all out brawl at a modesto mall. Were learning the fight spilled into a nearby Jcpenney Department store. Its not cheer what they were fighting over. Its clear things got a bit crazy as shoppers rushed to get macys admitting online for black friday, and cyber monday visitors at a macys web site, given a count down clock. Some shoppers reported the site being down, seeing a page that said the ite was undergoing rouuine maintenance. Some black friday sales could linger in to today. Amazon is unveiling monday deals. The deals will continue throughout the week on a variety of products, but amazon is reporting the most watched item so far has been the mermaid tail blanket. Who knew. But with talk of all the shopping, we cant forget about locally owned stores. Small business saturday. We know locally owned stores are offering great deals and promotions throughout the day. Talked about this last week, we golden starting their holiday festivities today, purposely on Small Business saturday. Head out to golden and enjoy the festivities. I have seen a lot of ppople bringgng their trees back. Some people its a tradition. Thanksgiving is over, and the Holiday Season is upon us. It is. We could use snow for the mountains. Good news is it is coming. Heres the view from vail village. A couple runs through the resort towns. The next 24 to 48 hours. A big change is in store. A mix of sun and clouds. A beautiful sunrise to start saturday. Heres our radar and satellite. High clouds streaming in from west to east. Those will gradually clear. Expect mostly sunny skies throughout the day, across colorado with in connection with increasing cloud coverage and watches and warnings in effect for tonight heading into all day sunday. Our weather advisory is in effect for the foothills, boulder park, summit counties, lot of snow over the next 48 hours. But throughout the ddy for saturday, make sure you enjoy it. Its going to be mostly sunny. A great day overall, very pleasant. This is stopped at 2 30. Not a lot haening across much of the denver metro area. It will be early sunday morning. This is stopped at 7 30. We have a chance of picking up a few rain showers. Mainly in the mountains. If youre doing any traveling from denver west, just beware to play extra time. Please be careful. Inches of snow in the foothills. Further to the wests and down to the southwest as well. A couple watches and warnings in effect there. Well keep an eye on the storm as it moves in. If you are traveling tomorrow, plan for extra time, especially the high country. The plains, though, should stay mostly dry. Current temperatures outside. A cool start to the day. 29 in parker. Same in bennett. Downtown denver at 35 degrees in city park. High temperatures today, about average. Normally we should be at 47 today. Low 60s under plenty of sunshine, and throughout the metro, 62, Highlands Ranch, littleton at 63 degrees. At the airport, we should stay calm, 40s if the mountains. Tomorrow, broncos game in denver. Heres your first alert. Its going to be a chilly one. Youll definitely want the extra jacket, the hat, good stuff to stay nice and warm. 42 degrees by kickoff. 35 y the end of the game. We have snow in the metro on our 7day. 38 degrees on monday. A lot colder this weekend. One of the warmest days on our 7day forecast will be today so make sure you get out and enjoy it. Sunday we have the chance for a few showers. Mainly in the mountains well pick up the majority of the moisture. By monday, though, we could be seeing the potential for a few thats your first alert weather day. Take a look at these dropping temperatures. A huge change from what were seeing today. Teens and 20s. Really feeling like winter as we head into the next seven days. Its going to be cold. Good amounts of snow coming to the mountains. Traight ahead in sports, the broncos are finally getting healthy. Find out who is being added to the roster this morning ahead of tomorrows big game. Well have a report. History could be made in. Theres a brand new bronco in the locker room. Reporter during this holiday week, thomas gaffeford was hunting, and they were sneaking a long snapper can casey creeder out with a calf injury. They called him, he jumped on a plane and. Myself if i didnt take the opportunity. The nose tackle was cut to make room for the long snapper. It helped that derek wolfe s back. He told me he wasnt missing this sundays game. We know how good we can be. There have been a t of injuries, you know, weehavent had our full squad together. We get our full squad together this week its going to be fun. Reporter broncos not only getting healthier but stronger, beware of d ware, his play count is going up to 50, look role. Im excited about that, play a little bit more, and get after it. History is on the broncos side, they have not lost to the chiefs in denver in backto back seasons since 2000. Phil, the ipod wasnt invented yet. Back to you in the studio. I have that one, troy. The one with the dial. Now to the 9th ranked buffs. If they can beat utah, they will be pac12 south champions. Its also senior day seduction goong to be bitter senior bittersweet. Ill be emotional on saturday to put so much into this program, and play for four years, especially with this group, and the journey we have been through. Its going to be pretty upsetting to finally know that its all over, and its come really fast. Upset city down in the springs on friday. Check out brett baldwin, blocks the punt. Tyler weaver is bringing it in for six. Falcons never trailed and late in the game. Number 19 boise state, 2720. Nuggets were at pepsi center last night, and the 10 available players were trying to contain okcs russell westbrook. Four points in the first half. It all came down to this. Tied at 122, westbrook with the ball in his hands, the final shot, rejected by the mannable. Adams makes Wilson Chandler take a shot. Game over, the nuggets blow an 11 point lead. They lose to okc, 132129. Colorado state in a matinee. Taking on southeastern louisiana. Emanuel amugbo, the easiest of his game high 18 points. Csu goes onto win win it, 6759 thats your morning sports report. Go out and make it a i know you will. There has been talk that the results of the election has not only sparked protests but a rise in hate crimes across the nation. We are seeing a spike in cases in the metro. Another case of vandalism in aurora, people are speaking out, reacting to it all. Why this man is being switch to centurylink and get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month. Thats the speed you need to stream. Game. Connect on social media. Learn, shop and more with fast inhome wifi. So call 844565link. Get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month for one year when bundled with a qualifying home phone plan. Speed may not be available in your area. Call today. On top of breaking news on denver 7, cubas former leader fidel castro has died. He led the island nation for only communist government. During that time, castro survived a tough u. S. Trade embargo, designed to topple him, as well as numerous assassination attempts. And overnight, thousands took to the streets in miami after it was announced that the former cuban leader had died. Many carried flags and signs to show their celebration. Its a moment that we were going to promote our 55 years, we are free at last. The man that cast so much suffering, and so much people to be already passed away the dictatorship, the longest dictatorship is dead. This is freedom. This is everything. Its huge change for our commuuity, and i think a lot of good things are coming for us. Not everyone is celebrating. His supporters are grieving. Fidel castro was 90. His funeral will be held september 4th. He will be cremated. Here at home, you got to love that song, skiers and snowboarder rejoicing yesterday on black friday as vail celebrated its opening day and similar excitement, beaver creek, that resort firing up the chair lifts for the season, making it the 14th sky area open for business. Katie, more snow coming to the mountains, too. A lot of our colorado resorts, theyre open but with limited runs and i know a lot of and snowboarder, myself included who want tt get out there this year. It has been very dry. Nice start to the day. Increasing cloud coverage across the front range and plains as of right now. We should see plenty of sunshine throughout the afternoon. Current temperatures downtown. Were at 35 degrees. Pretty mild by cool start to the dayment winds from the southwest at 13 Miles Per Hour day. Miles per hour. Outhwest at 13 our high temperatures for today, this afternoon, under plenty of sunshine, will be in Highlands Ranch expecting a high of 63 degrees today. Boulder, youre at 60 and throughout much of the afternoon, well stay dry all throughout the state. Heres what our future cast looks like in terms of our snowfall. By late tonight, were still under a clear sky, but increasing cloud coverage sunday into monday. We have a lot of snow in the forecast. Well take a look at the timing and how much were expecting. Theres great news coming up in aabit. A tough night at windsor high school. Students and faculty came out to remember in a car crash and another fighting for his life. This was the scene last night at windsor high. You can see the crowd there. 19yearold kyle nackos was killed when a drunk driver hit the car he was riding in head on on i25. Nash rider who was driving is in critical condition. Two people behind bars after this police chase through denver yesterday. This chase ended near 8th. People fleeing from police were lodge in aurora. A man and woman were arrested here and brought to the hospital for injuries. Theres no telling when the cherry cricket restaurant in cherry creek will reopen. This happened after a kktchen fire. The fire damaged restaurants insulation on wednesday night. There were people inside the restaurant at the time of the fire. They made it out safely. The owner says hes assessing the damage and no word on the impact date of when they will reopen. 7 33, new this morning an 87yearold man found dead after investigators say he was the man apparently lives alone, but he was reportedly found by his grandson who came to the property yesterday afternoon. It looks like the man was standing behind the tractor while the vehicle was in gear. Also new this morning, police in may is county are ask mesa county are asking for your help. A suspect walked into a gas station the other night and handed the cashier coins and hundreds more than he had. Emppoyees say he was smooth with his money handling and the cashiers coullnt keep up. Opening statements began yesterday for the second time in the case against this man, . Lester jones. Jones is accused of killing a Grand Junction woman nearly a decade ago. Page birgfield reportedly ran a private escort business and jones may have been one of her clients. Shes going to trial for the the first time, jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. Authorities are looking for two men who spent thanksgiving breaking into a restaurant. They took several cash registers but they couldnt break the Restaurant Owners holiday spirit. Take a look. Yoo can see the suspects use a rock to smash the front door to the restaurant. Once inside, they go right for the cash registers, ripping them out. Taking off with them. The owner says hes not going to let the thieves ruin thanksgiving weekend. It brings a warmth, and what you can make or take. Its what you can give. Thats what really counts and makes things special. What an attitude. The cameras even captured the get away car in the parking lot there. The suspects got off with thousands of dollars in cash were being told. Police are searching for these men. A violent robbery attempt caught on camera. A man enters the back door of this minnesota pop eyes restaurant. The employees work to go clean the place before closing. The suspect grabs the from behind, held a gun to the employees head and demanded the safe be open. The employee taught off the man but was struck by the robbers pistol. The robber ran off. Racially charged graffiti has been spray painted in the metro area. Someone spray painted kkk and the n word across an apartment door at the sonoma apartments. The woman who lives there had a she has this message for the person who did it. Youre a coward. And your behavior is not acceptable. Your behavior will not be tolerated and if and when they do find the people responsible, i want them prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Last week, a transgendered womans car was spray painted in capitol hill in denver with and at Stapleton School, someone painted swastikas on school doors. This is the time of year the metro are doing just that. Theyre installing a brand new roof. Amanda del castillo joins us live with the details. Good morning. Good morning, yeah, theyre a bit ahead of schedule today. Were told that volunteers were supposed to arrive at 8 00 this morning. Workers are already taking to the roof here at st. Rafka church in lake wood. You can see them getting to work. It looks like they got off of the roof. You heard the hammers pounding there they are. Now, this is all possible because of interstate roofings roof in need contest. The church was actually nominated by parish members in the last few months and they were chosen. St. Rafka church in lakewood. Additional pairs include painting, dry walling and gardening, so theres going to be a lot of people here today kind of giving back to the church that gave so much to them. Were trying to catch up with people this morning seeing to the church. Hopefully we get to see the action as this morning continues. Reporting live, amanda del Castillo Denver7. Heres a new way to get around town. Theres a new taxi Company Based in aurora. Its called all cities and most of its drivers are from ethiopia. The goal is to serve aurora and create jobs. Right now, the company has 20 cabs and hopes to grow to 250 of yesterday, you can now get cheap rides to the citys downtown. Its kind of like uber but discounted and the program is run through the city. The goal is to encourage people to visit Downtown Boulder during the holidays, reduce parking and make the roads safer. You can catch a ride from allentown new years day. And just like that, the transition from thanksgiving to christmas has happened in downtown denver. Yesterday the city and building was lit up to celebrate the holidays and this is not the only one. Union station also turned on its lights for the season. The lighting of Union Station and the city and county building, all part of the citys grand illumination to light up the city. Today the denver zoo is giving a special preview of zoo lights. Denver Botanical Gardens is looking spectacular. The holiday lights extravaganza is called blossoms of lights. I love this time of year. Sunday is when were putting now that thanksgiving is behind us, christmas of course is just around he corner, and youll be handing out gifts before you know it. Still ahead, were taking a 7 41. You may remember a couple in utahs hospptal bill going viral. The two were charged nearly 40 bucks for holding their son after a c section. The hospital says the charge was for an extra nurse monitor for safety. Now many parents were shocked but it turns out this is something moms to be can expect right here in denver, too. Well, it seems totally to hold your own baby when it requires another person to stand there and help you, it does sort of make sense, but there was no charge for that. Reporter the doctor says the extra cost is worth it. There are dozens of Health Benefits to skintoskin contact after birth. The living room of westminster home probably is where you would start searching. For familiessof kids with special needs, it may be the best place max watson has a very important job. Hes the official toy tester for santas little hackers. The nonprofit his parents dina and steve created is a way to . Rovide adaptable toys to kids with speciaa needs around the world. This is one of the more complex adaptations, because we have taken tones out electronics out of toys. Were just intersecting the into this port. Just part of the process of turning off the shelf toys into toys that can be triggered by buttons and switches used by kids with special needs. Hannah, can we help carry the boxes upstairs. Reporter the toys are donated to people responding to wish lists on the santas little hackers web site. Hannah helps sort a recent toy shipment and asked about the in little hackers. We were walking through a target and saw the same toy that we had seen online, and i asked my husband if he could adapt that toy for max, and he said i dont see why not. Reporter answering the challenge saved the wallsons half the cost of an already adapted toy. You buy a toy for 80. You dont know if its going to work for them. On prrvious christmases, the child could open the toy and with. They couldnt squeeze the button on the hand or on the toy. By making this adaptation, they could push the button, and 3 watch it sing, watch the lights come on. But these are more than just toys when theyre adapted. Theyre learning devices. These are usee as a tool to teach how if i press this same button, it will activate my 3 communication device. Just the same way it activates my toy. Santas ha shipped 500 toys to 45 states and 8 countries. This year their goal is higher, but maybe not as high as their request list. Right now, where were sitting, we can purchase and ship about 600 toys. We have 2000 requests. Expect to spend long hours adapting as many toys as they can. Once he goes to bed, yes, we sit down, and start adapting tired. Reporter toys max will then put to his quality test. Is that you . The watsons dont do all the work themselves. They organize hack athons like the one you hackatons like the one you see here, weather where volunteers where volunteers come together. Another one on december 3rd. You dont need special skills 3 to help out. Donate a toy or money to santas hackers, look for the story on the denver . Channel. Com. Find it in the lifestyle section. I love it. Itts great. Nice weather out there today. It is. 3 its going to be pleasant. The warmest day on the 7day forecast is today. Hopefully you can get out and enjoy it. Coverage from west to east. We expect to see plenty of sunshine by the time we head into midday. Current temperatures outside. Were at 22 in evergreen, a Copper Mountain right now at 10 degrees. Cold down in alamosa, and on in the western slope. 28 degrees with teens and Single Digits in the mountains. A chilly start to our saturday, under mostly clear skies. As you can see in our 24 hour planner, normally we should be right around 47 degrees. Today well be in the low 60s. Sunshine for this afternoon, and our normal lows are around 20 tonight. Well get down to the mid30s. A little bit above normal for this time of year. Here are the hi t englewood at 59. Montclair, a high today of 60 degrees. 62 in congress park. As well as in the du area as well as down south in lone tree. Our highs across the state. Well see 40s for the most part in the mountains. Aspen, expect a high of 47. Steam boat, youre at 44. Across the northeastern plains, upper 50s and then low 60s down to the southeast. Now, we do have a large cold front. It is slowly but surely making its way into the colorado. This is our snow cast forecast throughout the day today, well stay dry statewide. This is at 11 30. Well start to pick up moisture first down to the southwest, and snow will filter in. If youre doing any traveling sunday, please allow for extra time. We have winter watches and warnings in effect, so the mountains, could break up about 11 inches of snow. Right now, eagle looking at about 12. If you are traveling across i 70 west, just please practice caution because well see some white out conditions. Much of the day come sunday. Great news for our resort towns. All the way into boulder, and we have a chance for a few showers mainly in denver. Temperatures tomorrow will be warmer. We arent expecting any snow. As you can see across the plains, staying dry for tomorrow. Tonight, getting down to 35 degrees. Clouds will increase ahead of that cold front, and then tomorrow, 52 is our daytime high. A few showers expected. Not quite as warm. The big cool down for us will come on monday. A high of 38 degrees. And take a look at the rest of next week. Overnight loans lows in the teens to 20s. Monday and tuesday, those are the first alert weather days, seeing more snow and moisture, much needed. Very dry right now, and i know a lot of resort towns will be extremely happy once the storm passes sunday into monday. The winter watches and warnings will be in effect throughout sunday into monday. Snow in the mountains. Dry on the plains. Take a look at this. This is some of the food your 7 dollar donation can buy to put in a weekend food bag for a family in need. Whole foods and Security Service federal credit union are part of the denver7s holiday heroes campaign. To learn more on how to donate visit thedenverchannel. Com holiday heroes. 7 4. Are you looking to make your family a little bit bigger. Eholidays are about joy again. At t. J. Maxx, marshalls and homegoods, weve imagined the holidays this way for decades. Its why we never have crazy sales. Never make you clip coupons. And always have amazing prices on popular brands and thoughtful gifts. Its time to bring back the holidays ten minutes to eight and its time to talk about the pet of the day. Chris tin taylor from Kristen Taylor is here, and were going to talk to you to talk about pet insurance, which im interesting in. And first penny. Shes a 7monthold kitten. She came to the shelter with her brother sheldon. You can see there was a theme there. And shes feov positive, which means she has the leukemia virus. That means she can still live a long life, and 70 of the felv cats are able to resist infection on their own. So she has a Bright Future ahead of her, and shes super sweet. Shes a shelter favorite because shes so loving and so affectionate. Beautiful color and so soft, too. Were going to talk about pet insurance. Definitely. Its getting to be the practice last year. Wow wouudnt you wouldnt believe how many emergencies came inn its good to talk about pet insurance. Theres so Many Companies out there. Go online and get free quotes at all of them. The only caveat is no preexisting conditions are covered like with human health insurance. The earlier the better, if youre getting a puppy or kitty, get them on pet insurance right away. Its really good like i mentioned for er visi, expensive surgeries, that you may not otherwise be able to pay for a lot of it. And also some of them also cover preventative care, too. Like vaccines and spay and neuter. Very important. But youre going to have too do your home work. Research it. Good information, of course. Penny here needs a home. I can totally tell why shes a favorite. Shes so sweet. Shes really sweet. And of course to contact dr. Shiller at evans east animal hospital, and if you want to mountain feline rescue, and well put the information on our web site, thedenverchannel. Com, and my Facebook Page right after the show at the 8 00 hour, so well get that up just a little bit past 9 00. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having us. Enjoy the rest of your weekeed. Cute, cuddly, calm, too. I hope she finds a home. Stick around, because heres a look at our top stories this morning. former cuban leader fidel castro has died. He was 90 years old. Castro was best known for embracing soviet communism. Many took to the streets in miami to celebrate his passing. Mourning after a csp trooper was hit and killed on i25 near castle rock. Cody donahue was an eleven year veteran. A semitruck hit him while he was responding to investigate another accident. A criminal investigation is now underway, and the truck driver in jail. And as many of us are recovering from our black friday shopping, a reminder that today is Small Business saturday. A day to think small and shop local to support locally owned businesses. Im live in lakewood this at st. Rac as maranite church, all part of interstate roofs in need contest. This church was actually the winner after it was nominated by parish medical examiner. Volunteer members. Volunteers are expected to come theyre expecting additional repairs like painting, dry walling and gardening because of interstate roofing giving back to the community through its roofs in need contest. Well have more throughout the morning. Im live in lakewood. Amanda del castillo, denver 7. Thanks and one last check of weather. Its going to be nice. Then the cold is coming. The cold is on the way. Look at the 7day forecast. Today, theewarmest day by far on our 7daa. By tomorrow, we have the chance for a few Winter Weather advisories in the mountains. Theyil throughout the day. A chance for a few showers in denver. A high of 52. Then as you can see, a big cool down comes. We could be seeing flurries, light snow, nday, tuesday, and things clear back up, but cool down by the end of the week. And theres much more to come in the next hour including more on how you can take advantage of class action lawsuits and earn real money off offthem. Stay with us, this is denver7 denver7 news starts right now. And this is breaking International News on this saturday morning. Hundreds taking to the streets overnight in miamiiafter the announcement was made that former cuban leader fidel castro has revolutionary leader was 90 years old. For years he had been out of the public eye and his brother raul castro made the announcement on cuban television. We are taking a look at the impact of castros death on american policy going forward. Heres abcs martha raddatz. From military disaster to near nuclear war, the 50 year feud with a fidel castro led cuba was marked by tension and tragedy. Isis International Relations with the u. S. During the cold war, and the two nations newfound resentment escalated quickly. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a Nuclear Strike capability against the western hemisphere. While his allies agreed to remove their missiles, castros animosity towards the u. S. Survived. In 1999, the custody battle over Elian Gonzalez playing out as castro demanded boys return to cuba. His mother had drowned while escaping with him to the u. S. Armed u. S. Agents forcibly removing the boy from his miami relatives returning him to his father in cuba. And there is guantanamo bay, the naval base leased by the u. S. From the castro regime since 1959 after the controversial process of housing terror suspects castro repeatedly denounced the u. S. Being used to do americas dirty work. Ten american president s tried to isolate castro and hope for his demise. Then in 2013, this defining moment, president obama shaking hands with president raul castro at Nelson Mandelas funeral, paving the way for renewed diplomatic relations. This is not merely symbolic. With this change, we will be able to substantially increase our contacts with the cuban people. Reporter in 2015, president s meeting again as obama calls for the 53yearold embargo to finally be lifted. 8 02 on this saturday morning, and to start the day the west coast is getting hammered with some strong storms, mountain snow to the northwest and a lot of rain for california. In colorado, we are under a partly cloudy sky, increasing cloud coverage especially across the northern half of the i25 corridor. Skies by later this afternoon. To the day. A temperature at 36 degrees. 37 at the airport where winds are currently from the southwest at 10 Miles Per Hour. Loveland pass right now, were seeing blue skies, a very pretty start to the day there as well as in limon, where were seeing a mix of sun and clouds. Heres your front range forecast for this afternoon. Today, the warmest day on our day forecast will be in the upper 50s in fort collins as well as greeley. A mix of sun and clouds, and mostly sunny in denver. A high of 62 degrees today, a big cool down is coming advisories, and winter storm warnings that will go into effect later today. Well be getting snow in the mountains. And well look at the timing and how much in a few. This state trooper killed on the side of the road, i25, south of castle rock. Cody donahue was an eleven year veteran of csp. Police say a semitruck hit him yesterday afternoon killing aim as he was responding to an accident. A criminal investigation is underway, and the truck driver is in custody. Investigators say trroper this tragedy, a little more than a year after trooper Jaimie Jurservics was killed. Cody was a really good kid, good family man. Had two beautiful children, has two beautiful children, and will be sorely missed. Hes a good team guy. All the troopers could always count on him for support and efforts and hell be really mussed. The trooper leave wife and two kids, a go fund me page is set up for the family. Heartbroken for the troopers family, and also to see another tragedy she believes could have been prevented jolie torres says yesterdays tragedy brings back a lot of emotions about losing her own daughter, Jaimie Jurservics, she was killed while investigating a minor crash near plum creek parkway on november 15th of last year. A drunk driver ran into her, send a strong message to everyone to move over especially when our men and women in blue are conducting a traffic stop. I know that the state patrol and the community will rally around the family like they did us. Hay rallied around us and they helped us get through one of the most critical times in our life. And to the public t public, be thankful, courtes, behind the wheel. Peoples lives depend on it. The man who hit and killed Jaimie Jurservics, sentenced to 8 years for vehicular homicide. Jurservics left behind a husband and new baby. Law enforcement agencies have been sending their condolences to chp. We have seen messages of support from the Aurora Police department, the Arapahoe County sheriff and south metro fire. This is now the fourth Law Enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty in nationwide, 2016 has seen 132 officers killed in the ine of duty. There is no denying our men and women in blue have a tough and often thankless job. In this season of gratitude, more and more people are coming forward to say thank you. Morgan snapped this picture of Aurora PolicePolice Officers helping move a homeless man and his belongings. The message of thanks going viral. They stop and they help. It warms my heart. G all around the country do this stuff but most of the time it doesnt get noticed and sometimes its small things that help out the most. Aurora isnt alone. Messages of appreciatiin for Law Enforcement are flooding facebook. We know the Holiday Season is here, and its time for a lot of us to give back, and for a community in the metro, thats what theyre doing. Volunteers will be gathering to install a roof on the church thats in need. Amanda del castillo is live with the details. Of giving. Workers have already started. They started about 300minutes early. All o. Repairs are actually coming right on time. Ahead of all that snowfall that we should be expecting soon. But im going get out of the way so you can see people doing what they do best and thats installingga brand new roof. This is not the Actual Church building. This is the Church Office. The Church Office is going to see a brand new roof as are two other buildings here church grounds. This is all part of the roofs in need contest being put on by interstate roofing. The Church Actually won this year. They were nominated by parish members, which is awesome, just kind of seeing everyone out here. Its chilly. To see everyone kind of getting to work, is great, especially just a few days after the thanksgiving holiday, but volunteers are expected to come in at any time now from 8 00 tonight. Theyre also working on additional repairs including painting, dry walling and gardening around the church today, so well be live, hopefully speaking with volunteers and priests here to see what this means to them seeing their Community Give back. Reporting live in lakewood. Im amanda del Castillo Denver7. 8 08, and still ahead, donald trump continues to get his white house staff together. Hes added two more to his list of staffers. Details on them and the controversy its stirring up. The president elect spending his thanksgiving day weekend here at his exclusive it is you will 10 it is 8 10. This is a look from the mile high cam over downtown denver. The broncos take on the chiefs tomorrow night at the stadium there. Thats going to be a big afc west rivalry game. It is a big one this season. But for today, its going to be lots of warnings and advisories, that katie is going to talk about in a second. . President elect donald trump announced two more staffers to his white house team. He named former republican administrator official katie k. It. Mcfarland. Accused russia of meddling in the president ial election just last september. Its not a russian state entity. And then he whats that. Thats an admission that in fact theyre doing it. And why do they do it. Its because they can get away with it. Trump still has to choose his pick for secretary of state in addition to mitt romney and rudy giuliani, retired general david petraeus, retired marine general bob kelly, and senator bob corker are in the running for the spot. Green Party Candidate glisten has filed a request for a jill stein has filed a they have raised money to cover the costs in wisconsin, pennsylvania, and michigan. President elect donald trump spending his thanksgiving holiday at his maralago estate. Reporter ed lavendara looks at a property trump has turned into a pay to play resort. Reporter walking into the maralago estate is a journey into a guilded exchange of wealth and extravagance. The old world sitting on the coast of florida. Its like walking into a place that is a fay tale, like cinderellas castlee it was built in the 1920s by the socialite, Marjorie Merriweather. At the time, she was the wealthiest woman in the united states. Palm bbach Daily News Society editor Shannon Donnelly says for decades the towns high entertained on the grounds. She would have square dance parties every saturday night. Post died in 1973, and she wield the estate to the u. S. Government as a diplomatic and president ial retreats. President s never use it had it and it used it. It became so costly to maintain, the federal government decided to sell it. Donald trump bought the mar lago estate and the antique furnishings in 1985 for nearlyy 10 million. Last year he bragged to the Washington Post about how the deal went down. His initial offer for the property was rejected. He turned around and bought an adjacent property and threatened to build a large hideous house on it that would block the view of the ocean from maralago. Trump claims that drove the Property Value here down, and thats when he was able to come in and snatch up maralago. Thats the deal of the century. Reporter early on, palm albatross. The Property Maintenance alone was coasting a fortune. It turned out to be one of those investments that caused problems because when he became crunched with money, and he needed to do something, this house was just a, you know, sort of a weight around his shoulders and he had to do something with it. Thats how the club came about. Reporter first trump wanted to carve the property and sell individual lots, palm beach officials wouldnt allow that to happen. Eventually he came up with the idea of turning maralago an exclusive club where members would pay a 100,000 membership fee and 14,000 in annual dues. Donald trump keeps a secluded private residence on the property. This is where trump married his wife melania in 2005. Its a tremendously Successful Club and im so glad i did it. And im very very proud of it. Reporter and more than 40 years after Marjorie Merriweather posts death. It is now exactly what she dreamed it would be. Reporter a president ial retreat on the florida coast. Friday chaos across the nation yesterday including this violent brawl captured on video breaking out at a california mall. Well bring you the full video next. Amazon, black friday, and Cyber Monday Deals are in full switch to centurylink and get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month. Thats the speed you need to stream. Game. Connect on social media. Learn, shop and more with fast inhome wifi. So call 844565link. Get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month for one year when bundled with a qualifying home phone plan. Speed may not be available in your area. Call today. That shook the country. Two shootings, and all out brawls. On track for a record day of holiday sales. Take a look at this. Customerscustomers in mississippi caught in a tug of war reportedly over a dvd gaming system. Really . And chaos in a georgia walmart as people threw towels to try to get the best deals. Then this is in reno. A fire reportedly over a parking spot turning deadly. Thats one of three black friday shootings, another man jersey mall also reportedly over a parking spot. Then theres this, an all out brawl at a modesto, california, mall. You can see the fight in the middle of the floor. We are learning the fight spilled into a nearby Jcpenney Department store, too. Still not clear what they were fighting over, it is clear that it got a bit crazy across the nation as shoppers rushed to get the best deals. Macys theyre admitting online issues shoppers looking for black friday or Cyber Monday Deals. Visitors a macys web page, heavier traffic, and given a count down clock letting them know when they could return to the main macys site. The site was undergoing routine maintenance. As some black friday sales could linger into today, amazon is unveiling some of its Cyber Monday Deals. The online retallier will role retailer will roll out 75,000 sales. Amazon is reporting the most mermaid tail blanket. So there you go. Things relearn every day. But with talk of all the shopping, we cant forget about . Ur locally owned stores and today is Small Business saturday. Its a day to support local businesses across the state. We know locally owned Stores Across the metro are offering great deals and promotions throughout the day. So if youre not shopped out, try to shop small. Thats the message for the day. I like that. Well, the weather for the day, were looking pretty . Leasant, mild, right now are seeing increasing cloud coverage across the metro area, as high clouds stream from west to east. Do expect gradually clearing skies by this afternoon. Well be under plenty of sunshine by midday. Our first alert weather camera, the colorado network, they are making snow. They are open, unfortunately those Mountain Resorts really could use fresh snows and that is coming as we head into the next 48 hours. Partly to mostly cloudy skies and then in denver right now, downtown and at the airport where the temperature of 37 from the southwest at 10 Miles Per Hour. Its a cold start to our saturday mortgage, especially morning, especially in the high country. 16 degrees in aspen. Eagles at 9 and across the northeastern plains, warming up south in trinidad, 25 degrees. This afternoon, well see plenty of sunshine, and above normal temperatures. Typically we should be right at around 47 for our daytime high for this time of the year. Expect high temperatures across the metro ea low 60s. Now, watches and warnings and advisories to talk about throughout the next little while. These are start but midnight tonight, we have a winter storm3 warning in effect for much of the high country. All the area you see in pink, we could be picking up 8 to 16, 10 to 20 inches of snow, especially at Higher Elevations, above 10,000 feet. The weather advisories in effect for much of the foothills, boulder county, summit, park, we could be getting 6 to 10 inches of snow especially at the higher snowy if youre doing traveling tomorrow. Youlle sure to keep an eye on the storm as it enters too colorado. Overnight, right past midnight, well start to pick up snow first down to the southwest. Throughout the day, well see snow showers off and on, across i70 west, if you are traveling please allow for extra time, and be very very careful on the roads because we could be seeing blowing snow, white out picking up Higher Elevations in denver metro, a slight chance for seeing a few showers. No snow in the forecast really until at leasmonday. But taking a look at our highs for today. Were in the upper 50s. But tonight, getting down to 35. The mountains today in the 40s. Tomorrow, well see 20s and 30s for the most part. Tomorrow afternoon, well see that chance for a few showers if youre going to the broncos game, kickoff tomorrow, 6 30. It will be breezy, and chilly. Of the game, well be in the 30s. Take a look at our 7day forecast. Early in the morning, but monday, tuesday, is our best chance for seeing a few more flurries and light snow here in town. Teens and 20s. Feeling like winter coming this next week. Nice for the weekend, and nice for theebroncos game, too. Bundle up. Big game, well have a report weve got great news coming out of dove valley. I knew id never forgive myself if i got the opportunity and i wasnt expense of darius kilgel. Had also helped that derek wolfe is now back. He told me today he wasnt missing this sundays game. We know how good we can be. You know, like i said, theres been a lot of injuries. You know, we havent had our full squad together. We get our full squad together this week, its going to be fun. Reporter broncos nnt only getting healthier but stronger. Be ware of d ware. His play count is going up to 50 this week. Hes looking forward to an expanded role. Im excited about that, playing a little bit more and get after it. Reporter history is on the broncos side. They have not lost to the phil, the ipod wasnt invented yet. Back to you in the studio. I have that one. Now to the 9th ranked buffs if they can beat utah tonight at folsom field, they will be pac 12 south champions, and its senior days and its going to be bittersweet for the leader of mike mcintyres first class at cu. Ill probably be emotional on on friday. Check out brett baldwin. Falcons never trailed in this one, and they stuffed this fourth and goal late in the game to ice it. Air force, they upset number 19 boise state, 2720. The nuggets were at pepsi center last nightt and the ten to contain okcs russell west brook. Forepoints in the first half. It four poin in the first half. West brook with the ball in his hands, rejected, they would go to overtime. Thunder took a 2 point lead, final seconds of ot, steven adams makes Wilson Chandler change his shot. Game over. The nuggets on an 11 point lead with 3 minutes to go. They lose to okc, 132129. Colorado state in taking on southeastern louisiana. Emanuel amugbo, the easiest of his game high 18 points. Csu goes onto win it. 6759. That is your morning sports report. Go out and make it a great day. I know you will. Theres been talk that the results of the election has not only sparked protests but a rise in hate crimes across the nation. Were seeing a spike in cases in the metro, and another case of vandalism this time in plus, why this man is being were on top of breeking news at denver 7. Cubas former leader, fidel castro has died. He led the island nation for half a century, heading only the communist government in the western hemisphere. Castro survived a tough u. S. Topple him, as well as numerous assassination attempts. Thousands took to the streets in miami after it was announced that the cuban leader had died. Many carried flags and signs to show their celebration. It means a lot. Its a moment that we were waiting for more than 55 years. We are free at last. I mean, the man that cast so much suffering and so much people to be sad in my country already passed away the dictatorship in our country. This is freedom. This is everything for your people. This is huge change for a community and i think its a lot of good things are coming for us. On the other side of this, his supporters are grieving. Fidel castro was 90 years old. His funeral will e held december 4th. He will be cremated you got to love that skiers and snowboarders rejoicing as vail celebrated its opening day, and the same type of excitement at beaver creek, the resort fired up its chair lifts making it the 14th ski area open for business. And a lot of the resorts, theyre open but with limited runs, but very very soon, a big change is coming. A large cold front entering into colorado, so a lot of resorts will be very happy, plenty of snowfall expected for sunday. But for saturday, we are under morning. Expect gradually clearing skies by this afternoon across the front range. Lets take a look at future cast, and what we can expect hour by hour. As we head into midday, well see ccearing skies across much of the plains and front range. The mountains should stay dry throughout the day today. This is overnight, 2 30 in the morning, including cloud coverage across the front range and plains. Take a look at that. Were starting to pick up snow showers in the mountains and then throughout sunday morning, we have a slight chance of picking up rain snow mix possible. Most of the moisture staying to the west. All throughout the day sunday, heading into monday, we are expecting snow showers from the mountains. 5 to 10 to 20 inches in ots. Well take a look at exactll how much were going to get and where coming up in just a little bit. If you are traveling tomorrow, pack your patience, especially in the high country. 8 32. A tough night last night at windsor high school. Students and faculty came out to remember a teenager killed in a car crash and another fighting for his life. This was the scene last night 19yearold kyle nackos was killed when a drunk driver hit the car he was riding in head on on i25. Nash rider who was driving is in critical condition. Two people behind bars after this police chase. It ended near 8th, and they were fleeing from police, wanted in connection with to a deadly shooting at a travel lodge in aurora. A man and woman were arrested and brought to the hospital for injuries. Right now, th telling when the cherry cricket restaurant in cherry creek will reopen. The fire damaged some of the restaurants insulation on there were people inside of the restaurant at the time of the fire, but fortunately, they made it out safely. The owner says he is still assessing the damage, so word yet on an exact date of when they will reopen. New this morning, an 87 yearold man found dead after investigators say he was run over by his own tractor. The man apparently lives alone. Yesterday afternoon, according to investigators. It looks like he man was standing beside the tractor in front of the rear tire while the vehicle was in gear. New this morning, police in mesa county are asking for your help tracking down this man. Hes wanted for stealing hundreds of dollars from local businesses and he does it through a change scam. The suspect walked into a gas station the other night, and handed the cashiers coins and scammed them into giving him hundreds more than he had. Employees say he was smooth with his money handli cashiers couldnt keep up. If you recognize this man call police. Opening statements began yesterday for the second time in the case against this man, lester jones. Jones accused of killing a Grand Junction woman a decade ago. Paige birgfield went missing in 2007. Her remains not found until 2012. She reportedly ran a private escort business and jones may have been one of her clients. Hes going to trial for the second time because the first time jurors couldnt reach a unanimous verdict. Thanksgiving breaking into a restaurant. They took cash registers but they couldnt break the Restaurant Owners holiday spirit. Oh, no, take a look. You can see the suspects use a rock to smash the front door into the restaurant. Oncc inside, they go right to the cash reg registers. The owner says hes not going to let this ruin his thanksgiving. Giving back, it isnt what you could make or what you could take. Its what thats what really counts and makes things special. You can see here, the camera capture the get away car in the parking lot. The suspects got off with thousands of dollars in cash. Police are searching for these men. And look at this, another violent robbery attempt ught on camera. A man entered the back door of the minnesota pop eyes, and watch what happens. Employees were working to clean the place before closing, but the suspect grabs an employee from behind, handed a gun, and robbers pistol. Then the suspect ran off. Police are on the hunt to find this man. For the third time in two weeks, racially charged graffiti spray painted across the metro area. The latest happened in aurora tuesday. Someone spray painted kkk and the n word at the sonoma apartments. The woman who lives there, said there was a note that says watch your back. She has this message for the person who did this. Youre a coward,and your behavior your behavior will not be tolerated and if and when they do find the people responsible, i want them prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Last week, a transgender womans car spray painted in capitol hill in denver with swastikas and messages of hate. Then at a Stapleton School last weekend, someone painted swastikas on school doors. This is the time of year to give back and some volunteers in the metro are doing just that. Theyre installing a brand new denver7s amanda del castillo joins us with a look at this. Good morning, yeah, everyones out here already Getting Started on the roof here. Theyre actually working on the parishioners home right now. Theres also the Parish Office inside there. These workers got here pretty early today. You can see them kind of getting to work. This is all a part of interstate roofings roof and need contest. This church here actually won this year. They were nominated by their parish members. Were expecting more volunteers to come here this morning. Were told they are supposed to arrive between eight and nine a. M. , and theyre going to be working up until four this afternoon. Theyre going to be helping with additional repairs like painting, dry walling and gardening, again, here at lakewood, off wadsworth f youre wondering. I did speak with father andre, about a few minutes ago, and he says this is the first time type of major renovations so hes very exciied. Hh says that this is absolutely a present not knowing that he was actually nominated by parish members. So its just a great day. Good news for the saturday, people coming out and helping out others in the community. Reporting live in lakewood. Im amanda del castillo, denver7. Heres a new way to get around town. Theres a new taxi Company Based in aurora. Its called all cities and most of the drivers were in ethiopia. Goal is to serve aurora and create jobs. Right now, the company has 20 cabs but hopes to grow to 250 within a few months. If you live in boulder, as of yesterday, you can now get cheep rides to the citys downtown. Its kind of like an uber but discounted and the program is run through the city. The goal is to visit people in Downtown Boulder, reduce parking and make the roads just like that, the transition from thanksgiving time to hristmas has happened in downtown denver. Yesterday, the city and county building lit up to celebrate the holidays and this isnt the only one. Lights for the season. The lighting of Union Station and the city and county building all part of the citys grand illumination to light up the city. 3 the denver zoo is giving a preview of the zoo lights and the denver garden is looking spectacular. The holiday lights extravaganza its open and runs through january 1st. Now that thanksgiving is behind us, christmas and the holidays just around the corner. You know youll be handing out gifting before you know it. Eholidays are about joy again. Where days are filled with magic instead of madness. At t. J. Maxx, marshalls and homegoods, weve imagined the holidays this way for decades. Its why we never have crazy sales. Never make you clip coupons. And always have amazing prices on popular brands and thoughtful gifts. Its time to bring back the holidays do you remember this, a hospital bill that went viral ii utah. A couple, they were charged nearly 40 bucks for holding was for an extra nurse. Monitoring for safety. Now, many parents were shocked but it turns out this is something moms to be can expect here in denver, too. Well, it seems totally strange to have an extra charge to hold your own baby when it requires another person to stand there and help you. It does sort of make sense there isnt a charge for that. The extra cost is worth it. There are dozens of health benefitt from skintoskin contact right after birth. Toy factory, the living room of the westminster home probably isnt the first place you would start searching. As Shannon Ogden and Hannah Atkinson found out, for families with kids of special needs, its the best. Reporter max watson has an important job, hes the official toy tester for santas little hackers. And steve created has a way to provide adaptable toys to kids with special needs around the complex adaptations because we have taken the electronics out of the toys. Many of them adapted right here in their westminster living room where they keeppthe drill press and cauterring irons. Were intersecting the existing circuit, so we can plow a switch in the port. Reporter part of the process of urning off shelf toys in toys that can be triggered by buttons and switches used by kids with special needs. The toys are all donated by people on the santas little hackers web site. I like that. Thats cute. Reporter hannah elped sort a recent toy shipment and asked about the inspiration behind santas little hackers. We were walking through a target and saw the same toy we had seen online, and i asked my husband if he could adapt that toy for max, and he said i dont see why not. Reporter he said answering the challenge saved the already adapted toy. You buy a toy for 80, you dont know if its going to work for them. On previous christmases, the child would open the toy, and its not a toy they could play with. They couldnt squeeze the button thats on the hand or on the toy. By making this adaptation, they can push the button, and watch it sing, watch the lights come on. Reporter but these are more than just toys when adapted. They are learning devices. They are used as a tool to ttach how if i press this same button, it will activate my communication device the same as it activates my toy. Reporter santas helpers modifies and hips 500 toys to 45 states and 800 countries. This year the goal is higher, but not as high at the request list. Reporter the watsons expect to spend some long hours adapting as many toys as they can. Once he goes to bed, yes, we sit down and start adapting toys. And go until were too tired. Reporter toys max will then put to his quality test. Was that you . The sound. The watsons dont do all the work themselves. They organize hama hack athons, like the one you see here where volunteers come together to sew the toys back together and box them for shipping. They have another hackathon, and you dont need special skills to sign up. For more information and to donate a toy to santas hackers, look for the story on the thedenverchannel. Com, find it in the lifestyle section. Every time i watch that story, its inspiring and cool. It will feel more like the were going to cool down. Today, above normal temperatures in the 50s and low 60s across the front range. As you can see, clouds streaming in from west to east. We will see gradually clearing skies across the front range, and this morning, we are starting off under a mostly cloudy sky. Vail village right now, they are making snow. There are open, jewelsburg not registering on the camera network. The sun is trying to peak through the clouds. Downtown defer at a temperature of 34 degrees. 37 at the Miles Per Hour. Well see plenty of sunshine by this afternoon. Well see the cloud coverage move further to the east. The current temperatures, a cool start to the morning. 6 degrees right now in gunnison. Aspen in the teens. And across the northeastern plains, greeley chilly at 25. Sterling to the low 40s. Throughout the day today, well see a little more sunshine and high temperatures in the upper our normal for this time of day, 47 degrees. Heres your first alert increasing cloud coverage and a storm is on its way to colorado. A large cold front making its way into start to pick up the first round of snow down to the southwest. Throughout the day, if you are traveling some sunday, further across the western slope have the potential for picking up a lot of snow. Well see blowing snow, could see white out conditions. About 10 to even 20 inches of snow in spots. Especially above 10,000 feet. If you are traveling anywhere west tomorrow, practice caution. Highs for today. Upper 50s, low 60s. 62 in congress park. Same at the du area. Lone tree and lakewood, highs across the sttte. 40s for the most part in the mountains. Afternoon. Burlington in the low 60s. So tonight, clouds will increase ahead of the cold front getting down to about 35 degrees. So still cool but by tomorrow, a few degrees cooler but 52 is our expected high in denver. We have a slight chance were seeing a rain snow mix early on. For the most part, just a few passing showers. The mountains will see the majority of the moisture for sunday. Monday, though, take a look at our temperatuue drop. Were going to be back in the 30s for our daytime highs. A chance for a and then overnight lows in the teens and 20s. Staying in the 30s and low 40s all throughout next week. But eric, for the broncos game tomorrow, looking cool and also breezy and mild. Perfect football weather. Thanks. You have probably seen them in the mail all the time, nd you probably throw them away every time. Notices of filing a class switch to centurylink and get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month. Thats the speed you need to stream. Game. Connect on social media. Learn, shop and more with fast inhome wifi. So call 844565link. Get up to 40 megs of highspeed Internet Speed may not be available in your area. Call today. . How would you like free money. Scripts report, Class Action Settlements for products you bought that didnt live up to their promise. Reporter cole rowland is a graphic artist working ongoing his latest product. He likes extra cash to help him put together his next gallery show. Whenever hes notified about a Class Action Settlement he jumps. It was a postcard that said we could collect something. Reporter he collected almost 100 in insurance money. We filled out the application, and we received a check a few months later. Reporter ill admit, even i have received postcards in the mail saying you qualify for cash back on some purchase. You know what you do, you throw it away. Thinking its junk. Probably i toss a lot of mail. Reporter joslyn says shes going to pay more attention now because its easier than ever to find settlements. The Nonprofit Group consumer action recently put together a hundreds of settlementt that could net you from 3 all the way to up 5 grand. They get a lot of bad rap. In the end you have to realize this is a mechanism that helps consumers. Reporter linda sherry says many people complain about the high fees attorneys collect. Class action suits are worthwhile because they hold companys feet to the fire when they dont deliver what they promise. Among the current hot cases you can join, wells fargo, unsolici mcafee for auto renewals at a higher price. Collect a quick 11. Johnson and johnson baby bath wash saying it wassclinically proven when it was not. You could get 15. My pillow for overstating health effects, 10. Hyundai . That, car stalling problems, a free warranty extension, and perception over gas mileage, it was a really outstanding case of fraud. Reporter unfortunately some cases end up delayed for months, the duke energy settlement, checks should go out by years end. Joslyn washington is going to check it out because nothing beats easy money. I hope i have some. Reporter like to see if you qualify for any of these cases or others, no need to wait for postcards thanks to consumer so you dont waste your money, switch to centurylink and get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month. Thats the speed you need to stream. Game. Connect on social media. Learn, shop and more with fast inhome wifi. So call 844565link. Get up to 40 megs of highspeed internet for just 20 a month for one year when bundled with a qualifying home phone plan. Call today. Former cuban leader fidel castro has died. He was 90 years old. Best known for embracing soviet3 style communism, who defied power of ten u. S. President s. Many took to the streets in his supporters are grieving. A family and community in mourning after the csp trooper hit and killed yesterday on i 25 near castle rock. Cody donahue was an eleven year veteran. Police say a semitruck hit him while he was responding to investigate another accident. A criminal investigation is now underway, and the truck driver and as many of us are recovering from our black friday shopping, a reminder that today is Small Business saturday. A day to think small and shop local to support some of our locally owned usine live in lakewood this saturday morning, with some good news. Volunteers and workers are here at the maranite church. This is the second day of renovations. They are working on the parishioners home in parish headquarters hhre in lake wood, i should say. Its all because of interstate roofings roofs in need contest. Members. Volunteers are expected to be here from 8 00 this morning until about 4 00 this afternoon. Additional repairs include painting, dry walling, and garddning. I talked to father andre here. He says, this is the first time a major renovation was done to the church. The third year for the contest. Jack hannas wild countdown is sponsored by nationwide insurance. Hi, everyone, im jack hna here at the columbus zoo and welcome to wild countdown. When you hear the word ranch, you probably think of cattle and the old west. Moo but today, were looking at 7 unique ranches from the middle east. Jack, here is where we milk the camels. To alaska. Whoa. This things friendly, right . To the southern tip of south america. Oh, theres sheep up there. Look at em coming now. Plus, my bovine blooper of the week. Can i drink that . You could. Weve got all that and a