And we do say good morning to you on this holiday monday. Im kendis gibson. And im marci in for dianne ma said owe. We begin with the passing of George Michael. We got the word overnight who said he died of Heart Failure at his home in england on Christmas Day. Michael had not been ill. We have more on the pop icons life and career. Reporter the stunning death of George Michael brings a sudden end to one of pop musics most brilliant careers. He was just 53, his publicist said he died peacefully at home. His first solo album, 1987s faith sold more than 21 million copies and he enjoyed several hit singles. My music is reflected parts of the music that i listen to and some of my favorite albums would not be things that anyone expected. I know what my limitations are. Reporter his career included brushes with the law, overdangerous driving, drug use and public sexual behavior. I dont inhale any of that. Its dangerous. I dont inhale any of that. You give people music for years and years when you tie yourself to more than one night. You tie yourself to their big events of their life and its real privilege. Coming up later, the worldwide reaction to michaels death and the revealing interview he did recently with abc when he explained how he battled his own demons. But first, we want to move on to the other story were following the dangerous weather for million of americans who are heading home today. Looking at the radar, you can see the blizzard conditions s w slowly moving east. Already hundreds of flights have been cancelled and drivers have been warned to stay off the words. Reporter its the gift that keeps on giving. I love this White Christmas. Reporter Winter Weather making for a White Christmas and tough travel the day after. Were happy and were making sill will faces and were si singing Christmas Songs to get the time going. Brought two major highways to a stand still. Cars, trucks and drivers stranded along interstate 40 outside of flagstaff. I dont know. Im just waiting. Reporter getting home or to the mall could be tricky today across the country. In the Northern Plains its a slippery mess where freezing rain turned to snow. Transportation officials in the dakotas shutting down more than 600 miles of roadway along i94 because of drifting snow and nea nearzero visibility. Some of those areas under blizzard warnings. Rain and possible storms could move through nebraska, kansas, missouri, oklahoma and texas. I hope i can get home. So heres a Silver Lining its holiday, a major one, many workers can and we look ahead with accuweathers justin povick. Improvement throughout the northern tear of states. Poor traveling conditions due to snow and also some wind. Not as heavy as yesterday. Ets winding down. But, again, like i said, were not completely finished. Another storm system rolling into the northwest. Some problems as well due to rain and some mountain snow along the 5 and over the cascade when it comes to snow. New this morning, a possible cause for the crash of a Russian Military jet. The russian transport minister said pilot error or technical failure although terrorism has not been ruled out. The plane crashed two minutes after tcaking off in clear weather. It was headed to a russian base in syria a typhoon that k philippines has weakened slightly. People evacuated have started returning home. The storm headed toward a heavily populated area. And a powerful earthquake hit southern chile, thousands of people were evacuated over fierce of a tsunami, but that alert was lifted about an hour and half after the quake. New details about carrie fishers condition, shes in a los angeles hospital after suffering cardiac ar rest. Shes receiving well wishes as abcs eva pilgrim tell us were hearing from her mother. Brad Debbie Reynolds at her bedside. Tweeting this update, carrie is in stable share it. For all her fans and friends i thank you for your friends. Reporter the 60yearold reportedly stopped breathing friday on a flight from london to l. A. Just 15 minutes before landing. The l. A. Fire department rushing to the tarmac finding fisher in cardiac arrest. Fisher taken to hospital. Fishers brother telling abc news shes obviously a very tough girl who survived many things. I encourage everyone to pray for her. Eva pilgripilgrim, abc news, ne. Coming up a sinkhole emergency emergency in michigan. The controversy is raging as president obama spends his last holiday vacation in hawaii. Well have the details straight ahead. State of emergency declared near detroit. Because of a sinkhole thats threatening to swallow several homes. So far the hole has opened beneath one home. Home owner was able to evacuate over the weekend and that massive sinkhole opened up in the same area in 2004. President obama is on his ate and last christmas break in hawaii. The president s stay is mixed with time spent with family and duties. Abcs Stephanie Ramos is in hawaii this morning. Reporter visiting u. S. Troops on Christmas Day is a holiday tradition for obama and this was his last visit as commander in chief. Its impossible for us to fully repay what youve done and the sacrifices that you make. But at least its important to hear from us that what you do matters. Reporter president obama thanking u. S. Troops and their families for their service at a marine corps in hawaii. On christmas eve, the president personally called u. S. Service members to each branch of military stationed overseas and on twitter, a picture and this message best part of the holidays is the time we share with those we love. On behalf of michelle, malia and sasha, merry christmas, everyone a series of last. The president teaming up with michelle to poke fun at their first holiday address in 2009. Given how our first weekly address went i needed that barack could get. The greatest gift we have received over the last eight years has been the honor of servinging as your president and the first lady. Stephanie ramos, abc news honolulu, hawaii. Our thanks to stephanie there. Increasing tension between the Obama Administration and israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu over the u. N. Issue of settlements. The protest the white house failure to block the resolution condemnening israeli settle nmt the west bank. The Prime Minister blamed the white house for arranging it. We agreed that the Security Council was not the place to resolve this issue. We knew that going there would make negotiations harder and drive peace further and as i told john kerry on thursday friends dont take friends to the Security Council. President elect donald trump had urged the u. S. To veto the resolution. In the meantime, trumps plan to shut down his Charitable Foundation has apparently hit a legal hurdle. The president elect said hes dissolving the foundation to avoid the appearance of conflict. The attorney general said trump cant legally dissolve while the foundation is under investigation. When we come back late drama in pittsburgh decided by a stretch. At the goal line with only seconds to spare. And more about the life and death of singer George Michael, a revealing interview with abc from several years ago. Stay with us. Sh really cleans. Better than a manual, and my hygienist says it does. But. Theyre not all the same. Turns out, theyre really. Different. Who knew . I had no idea. So, she said look for. Dental tool with a round. Brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to. Gently remove more plaque and. Oralb crossaction is clinically proven to. Remove more plaque than sonicare diamondclean. My mouth feels so clean. 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Experts say the hottest deals will be on cameras, smartphones and video games. Gamestop has a buy two, get one free sale on used video games and on all electronics, expect deep discounts on returned mercha products that didnt sell well this year. Walmart is opening up at 6 00 a. M. To a jump on the postholiday rush. Son benjamin was born on december 25th. When mom was found out she was expecting another bay on december 23rd. They held out hope for a christmas encore. Sure enough, little caroline was welcomed into the world. Two kids born on the same day and on christmas, no less. Pretty cool. Congrats. A giant first seal had a wild run in as ttasmania before getting captured. He climbed on a car, smashed the windshield, dented the roof, took at lot of energy. At one point, there he is taking a nap. Warned to keep a distance as this creature wandered the st wild. But a lot of damage done. Some christmas sports starting with the nfl. 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Only new alkaseltzer plus justfree of artificial dyes and preservatives liquid gels delivers the powerful cold symptom relief store manager clean up, aisle 4. Alkaseltzer plus liquid gels. Checking the pulse and tributes are pouring in for is George Michael who died at the age of 53, his manager said the cause was Heart Failure. You may recall good morning americas chris cuomo sat down with George Michael in 2008 and he talked about surviving some of his most personal struggle and it was a terribly depressing time. I had my very first relationship at 27. Because i had not actually come to terms with my sexuality at 24. My first relationship, six months into partner, in six months youre deep in the throes of love and i lost my partner to hiv and then took about three years to grieve and after that i lost my mother. I felt like i was curse. How did you survive what you went through, the lost of the most important man and the most important woman of your life. Depression and shock that went on for years. Then of course i got myself arrested. So it was a very eventful and bizarre bizarrely dark period for me. I actually thought was going to go forzblfr michael was widely praised for his vocal range and his overall talent. Earlier we spoke with bruno about that and other aspects of michaels career. The great thing about it is, people are talking about his music not the controversies, not one of the greatest song writers we saw in the late 20th century. The man was tremendously talented. Wrote all his songs. Produced them himself. You cant find too many artists nowadays who do what George Michael did for so many years. To take ownership of his music in so many different ways. In so my different ways. Even went through legal fights with Record Companies like sony to get his masters back, but he took a long time in the studio between al bums because he was such a perfectionist. It was said he never really wanted to release music unless he was fully confident that it was the best possible work that he could possibly do. As you might imagine those who knew and worked with Michael Andrew ridgeley tweeted last night he was heartbroken at the loss of his beloved friend. Elton john posting a photo of himself with michael. Tweeting here i am in deep shock and i have lost a best friend. And madonna, farewell my friend, another great art ist leaves us. More on good morning washington, it is monday december 26th. Hope you all are enjoying your holiday good morning washington. Toss to eileen am patchy fog, cloudy today showers tonight unseasonably warm tomorrow cooler to round out 2016 showers to ring in the new year today cloudy. A bit milder than average. Highs 4852 winds s 5 mph tonight cloudy with a chance of showers. Lows 4447 winds sw 515 mph tuesday clouds and an isolated shower through 9am. Turning mostly sunny, breezy, and warmer. Highs 6065 winds sw to nw 515 mph breaking overnight. A woman struck by a metro train on the orange line in landover. Officials say the woman suffered nonlife threatening remove her from underneath the train. Witneesses told Prince Georges County fire crews that the woman intentionally moved in front of the train. Right now the incident is under investigation. Right now police in charlottsville are investigated a fatal car crash. It happened lasty night just after 8 in the 19hundred block of irish road. There ivestigators say a driver was traveling east bound in an older model truck when he struck a deer, lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was inside the car at the time of the accident. An update this morning on that deadly crash on i95 in baltimore that killed the driver of a tanker truck after skidding off the icey road nearly two weeks ago. Authorities now say the drive had the required certification to drive a fuel truck. 31yearold clinton worrel also had a valid medical certification. That tanker crash happened around the same time as a 68 car pile up that injured dozens more and shut down the highway for hours. The tanker crash is being investigated as a separate incident from the are likely related. A paramedic who helped save the lives of two boys is now helping them have a happy holiday season. Fouryearold jhalil and threeyearold jordan were stabbed last month, allegedly by their father. Prince georges county paramedic, lieutenant pamela graham, responded to the stabbing, and was horrified by the incident. She started a youcaring fund, and raised more than four thousand dollars so the boys could have a very special christmas. The day included a visit from santa, the day included a visit from santa, who handed out toys for the children. This particular santa also doubles as a 911 dispatcher. He says being able to help these children makes him appreciate his job. Its xx and were just getting started. A Police Involved shooting leaves one man dead in the disctict. Shooting leaves one man dead in the disctict. The investigation into what caused officers to open fire. One of the worlds greatest voicesgone. Coming up we take a look back at the life and career of George Michael. Good morning washington. Am patchy fog, cloudy today showers tonight unseasonably warm tomorrow cooler to round out 2016 showers to ring in the ne milder than average. Highs 4852 winds s 5 mph tonight cloudy with a chance of showers. Lows 4447 winds sw 515 mph tuesday clouds and an isolated shower through 9am. Turning mostly sunny, breezy, and warmer. Highs 6065 winds sw to nw 515 mph it could be a messy