>> your in a scenario no one has been in. >> a massive winter storm batters the nation. >> tornadoes, ice storms, flash flood, claiming dozens of lives and there is more pane ahead. a wintry mess moving into the northeast. same areas in the 70s, a few days ago, getting the first winter storm of the season. >> the manhunt for the affluenza teen is over. >> demonstrators marched in cleveland, where the grand jury decided not to indict the officers involved in the shooting of the 12-year-old boy. a huge security breach. >> a drone flewed a janet to the motorcade before acts forced him out. donald trump is taking aim at someone new. >> that hurricane, obama went to new jersey, he was like a little child, christie. >> disturbing video of a massive gas leak. >> it's causing evacuations for thousands of residents. about it. >> rock 'n' roll icon lemmy kilmister zooid died. he started out as a road di for jimmy hendrix. stuck inside, a local fire chief was able pull him to safety. >> all that. >> another hoverboard going up in flames. this time, it was a part of a display, still in its box. >> the broncos are in the playoffs! what a way to lose a football game. >> and all that matters. >> jeb bush says, nobody wants his autograph anymore. they want to take a selfie. >> the selfie is now the 11th amendment of the bill of rights. it is a requirement that you take one and i do it with great joy in my heart. >> the titan spartan cheer leylanders had a guinness world record by playing the world's largest game of cornhole. >> this morning's eye opener is brought to you by toyota. let's go place. >> and welcome to "cbs this morning." charlie rose, norah o'donnell and gayle king are off. much of the east is waking up to a wintry blast of rain, snow and ice. it's the same storm system that hammered areas, hundreds of miles away, sparking flooding and tornadoes in the south and mid-west t. line of heavy rain reaches as far south as florida. >> this storm has already buried some areas in snow. new mexico and oklahoma saw whiteout blizzard conditions. the systems reached new york. overnight, rain and snow created slick roads in buffalo. our minnesota station shows us the conditions in plymouth just outside minneapolis. ashley, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, the bracing for a storm expected to hit with a one-two punch. the first punch has brought three-and-a-half inches of snow so far, while cities farther south are just getting rain. swollen rivers flooded dozens of homes in branson, missouri. people have voluntarily evacuated along a larks approaching its highest ever flood stage. the mississippi river could crest at historic levels. the governor says they have declared a state of emergency. >> are you in a scenario no one here has ever been in. if that river hits the targets it is right now that, is higher ever been. >> st. louis is under a flood warning with seven inches of rain, since saturday, it's the city's wettest year on record. these men spent monday sandbagging, shoring up homes and businesses west of st. louis near the river, which is 20 feet above flood stage. high water made this stretch of interstate 70 impassable. freezing rain and strong winds and power lines were twisting and cracking. nearly everything coated in ice. strong winds blew over this gas station canopy in southeastern wisconsin. striking a car and narrowly missing the people who pulled in to refuel. and along the shores of chicago's icy lake michigan, high waves made for a pretty picture, but it was not inviting. minnesota department of transportation crews are out in full force. they're using around 800 plows and people are working 12-hour anthony. >> ashley, thanks. the winter weather could ruin travel plans for thousands of people today. so far this morning, more than 600 flights have been cancelled. adriana diaz is at chicago's o'hare international airport, where travelers are looking for new ways to get that their destination. good morning. >> reporter: anthony, as can you see, it is a zoo here at terminal three. normally the security lines stop just where you see that black barrier. i don't know if you have see through the people. it is extending the length of a football field and wraps around to the other end of the terminal. many people on this line are stranded here, were stranded overnight, because their flights were canceled yesterday. there have already been more than 200 flights cancelled here today t. severe weather is a major factor in the travel chaos. more than 1,300 flights were cancelled here yesterday. nearly 300 were delayed. passengers were stranded. many were scrambling to try to rework their travel plans here at the second nation busiest airport. half the flights were delayed. in texas at airports across the flights because of the weekend storm. more than 1,200 flights were canceled and nearly 600 were delayed at airports in dallas, boston, and houston, causing a across the nation. but if you can believe it, there is some good news. almost all of the major airlines are waving rebooking fees for travelers traveling within the path of the storm system. anthony. thanks. the storm is delivering snow and ice this morning to parts of the northeast. chief weather caster lonnie quinn of our new york station wcbs shows us the impacts across the nation. good morning. >> good morning to you, anthony, every single weather story you showed us, every one of them related to the same weather system. take a look at why it's all different colors. because you got sleek, ice, rain, snow. the question is, where does it go from here? that's a current picture. you take a look at the computer modem. this system will make a push to the east. basically, off to the east it goes, it drags the moisture with it. is it rain? is it snow? i will show you how it plays out. you get to the green mountain, that's where you find the biggest, six to 12 inches. maybe more as you get into maine, albany new york, you are in that darker slot. darker portions into the hudson valley, one to three inches. so is it the biggest snowstorm ever? no, certainly one of the biggest for the northeast. we have winter weather advisories in the northeast. we have them in effect for portions of the mid-west. look at these swatchs, little splashs of green. these are river flood warnings. what's interesting, you look at them all. they're all over the place from just outside chicago down to north of the gulf of mexico. this is a picture that you see typically in the springtime, we're catching it right now, we're getting ready to finish out the year. abnormal weather picture. the northeast today. back to you. >> hard to know to put on your rain coat, your winter gear, summer gear when you walk out the front door these days. >> twa are you going to do? >> thank you. the teenager who sparked national attention by using the so-called affluenza defense on a deadly drunken driving crash was arrested overnight in mexico. 18-year-old ethan couch is being held by mexican authorities along with his mother. he fled texas after violating his probation t. two were missing from the dallas area for weeks. they were found on monday in puerto vallarta. we have what is next for the pair. omar, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the bizarre international search for the so-called affluenza teen and his mother is now over. but the question of why they were running? that's just debting started. ethan and tawnya couch, mother and son, are now in the hands of pair was apprehended in puerto vallarta on the pacific coast of mexico. this new image, released by mexican official, shows 18-year-old couch with an altered appearance, his blond hair now a dark brown. >> ethan couch now sought by the u.s. marshals service. >> reporter: earlier this month the two disappeared after coup missed a meeting with his probation officer. ethan couch made headlines two years ago, when he alluded jail time after killing four people in a drunk driving crash. during trial, a psychologist testified on behalf of couch saying the teen suffered from affluenza, suggesting his parents' wealth left him without a on the of responsibility. officials believe the pair may have fled because of this video. it appeared to show couch at a party where a drinking game was played. even though he is 18, couch's case is moved over to adult court. he will face sentencing in front of a juvenile judge. it can only go to juvenile detention. antony. >> omar, thanks. cleveland officials are appealing for calm today after a grand jury decided not to duty two police officers in the killing of a 12-year-old boy in a play grounz. prosecutors say a video showed tamir rice pulling out a pellet gun just before last year's shooting. there were protests as far away as new york city. more a likely today. demarco morgan, the county prosecutor says a series of mistakes led to his death. marco, good morning. >> good morning. first, let's take a look at this memorial behind me. >> that continues to grow since that announcement was made yesterday, dozens of people stopping by to contribute items to the boy who lost his life in this park. you are right, prosecutors say a police radio dispatcher who spoke with the officers on the day of the shooting, who they say did not relay important information. they say the officer or dispatcher never told the officers that tamir rice might be underage or that the gun that he was carrying could be fake. president test protesters watched, hours after they announced the grand jury's decision. given this perfect storm of human error, the state, miscommunication by all involved that day the evidence did not police. >> reporter: enhanced under surveillance video from the shooting shows loehmann and garmback drive up to tamir rice, within seconds, loehmann opens fire. prosecutor say they show him pulling out the pellet gun to give it to police or to show the officers it was not real. >> but there was no way for the they saw the events rapidly unfolding in front of them. >> on monday, rice's family says mcginty was abusing and manipulating the grand jury process and hired so-called expert witnesses to try to exonerate the officers. >> i just wish they would quit using my grandson in vain and do the right thing. indict them police officers. >> reporter: rice's grandmother calls the decision heart breaking. >> this is a 12-year-old kid's life that was taken and they letting everybody know it's okay for the police officers to do whatever they want to do. mcginty. they're going to have to live with this just like i do. >> county officials say that all police officers will be wearing body cams and that their cars will also have a dash cams installed in those vehicles. the officer's attorney released does not bring a comfort to anyone. this has been a tragedy for both the rice family and the officer's involved. >> thank you. presidentttial candidates are back on the stump this morning after a christmas break. and this time donald trump has a new target. this one is not named clinton. the gop front runner rallied with supporters if new hampshire last night after the state's largest newspaper compared him to the bully biff in "back to the future" major has trump's fiery response. major, i'm bracing for it. >> reporter: good morning, donald trump had harsh words for the paper's endorsed candidate, new jersey governor chris christie, after threatening on twitter over the holiday to lead a republican charge into bill clinton's sordid sexual history, trump apparently felt his online threats went far enough. at least for now. done you think so? >> reporter: donald trump hit hard as new hampshire's leader. >> you have a dishonest knew it's also a failing newspaper. it's going down the tubers. >> also lashing out at the paper's publisher. >> his name's joe mcquaid. nah. he's a low life. i'm telling you. >> reporter: mcgrade used his paper's monday to call traump crude blowhard, reminiscent of biff tanon in the "back to the future" trilogy. >> i want to say one thing, good bless america. >> reporter: since starting the battle over sexism with hillary clinton, trump tip toed around the word that stirred the pot in the first place. >> can i say the word? obama. i won. >> reporter: trump accused bill clinton of unnamed acts of abuse towards women and warned that allegations of his past infitelt were fair game in his wife's campaign. hillary clinton's camp called outrage immediately morphed into a fundraising appeal. we can't make donald trump stop talking, said a campaign e-mail, but we can make sure he never, ever becomes president. trump's online attacks were enough to force several gop rivals into his corner. >> every past president is fair game t. fact that one of them happens to be married to a presidential candidate doesn't change that. >> i don't think it's hillary's fault she is married to a man that does this, but it is a question about what kind of laws we should have and how you should treat women in the pork place. >> hillary clinton's campaign announced bill clinton will be on the campaign on his wife's behalf on monday. after hearing this, trump was reminding his follower, when bill campaigned for hillary in 2008, according to trump, he quote failed badly. >> major, thanks. a man who flew a drone over president obama's motorcade in hawaii will not be charged t. motorcade did not stop or slow down. after secret service agents approached its owner. they say he was completely unaware the president would be in the area. iraq's prime minister is reported to be in the city of ramadi this morning. this follows days of fighting, where iraqi government troops drove isis militants out. ramadi is a key proishl capital located west of baghdad. elizabeth palmer is in london tracking the newest development. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the final 'ush to take ramadi follows weeks of preparation as iraqi troops patiently surrounded the town and cut off all the supply lines. finally the symbol of victory. for the first time since may, iraq's flag was hoisted over government buildings. all week, iraq special forces ramadi. they won, thanks to better equipment and more than 600 on isis targets. but the iraqis also won because they have been learning on the job. in ferocious battles earlier this year, they managed to push isis out. in ramadi, they did it without major help from irregular shiite militias. for these soldiers, that was a big moral boost. "cbs news," national security analyst. >> they're better trained and enabled in part through the u.s. and koes partnership. but also, they have greater will and capacity. they are clearly fighting with more strategic intent and capability. >> reporter: the battle to retake ramadi important though it was is just pre amble for what's coming in 2016. on national television, iraq's prime minister warned, we are coming to liberate mosul next and deal isis a fatal blow. will have to repair the damage and restore services if ramadi to lure residents back and keep them loyal so isis stays on the run. and the iraqi army is warning that operations in ramadi aren't entirely over yet. there are still pockets of isis fighters and at least one suburb and the city is heavily bobby trapped. margaret. >> thank you. major new developments in the search for a methane grass leak that forced thousands of families from their neighborhoods. ahead, we'll tell you why those families still have to wait mo well most of the wintry precipitation is starting to turnover to plain rain. more green on the map than anything else. still parts of the lower hudson valley are still dealing with the precip. sleet and snow have been the main culprits but it's a wet and slippery and sort of a messy dangerous morning commute no matter where you are. 51 degrees will be the high everything turns to rain before the rain tapers off this afternoon. >> they're bumping into things and people. >> we'll look at the spike in injuries from storm tracker 2000ed walking and how technology is outpacing our ability to pay attention. >> the news is back in the morning." crawfish shorts i like your style hooked it just a little bit (window breaks, car alarm sounds) don't open that cellar door epic comeback starts right here lucky shot. mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmm jane didn't like restrictions. not in life. and not when it came to watching her calories. why settle on taste? jane thought. that's why jane loves light & fit greek nonfat yogurt. bursting with rich creamy awesomeness and 12 grams of protein. all for 80 calories. no settling here. that you could win a fitbit flex from light & fit. learn more on specially marked packs. light & fit. feel free to enjoy. when it's your time to shine you want to feel good from head to toe... including your nails. introducing the latest innovation from amop\. the amop\ electronic nail care system. the fast way to file, buff, and shine for effortless, shiny wow nails! so you can step out with that amop\ confidence and shine on! the new electronic nail care system from amop\. quilted northern works so well people can forget their bathroom experience. but sir froggy can never forget. "what's worse", he thinks... "that my arms can never relax anybody who struggles with their weight and i'm at the head of that class, knows that it's not just about the weight; it's about something bigger. you've been fighting with then wrong tools; you've been looking in the wrong direction. so every time i tried and failed, and every time i tried again has brought me to this most powerful moment. to say, if not now, when? >> a countries music singer goes missing on a hunting trip when a ahead the latest on the search. plus kennedy centers honoree george lucas and why he sold the good morning. >> it is tuesday, december 29th. i'm andrea grymes. the mild weather we experienced on christmas is officially over. a winter storm system moved through the area overnight. it left some snow, sleet and ice on many of the roadways making for hazardous driving conditions this morning. in new york city, it's been more wet than white but a snow alert does remain in effect city-wide this morning. the department of sanitation had salt on the ready if conditions turn more dicey. and let's go to elise finch for a check on the forecast. >> well, we are definitely looking at temperatures still below the freezing mark. barely above the freezing mark others. as a result, a lot of green. most of us are into the rain right now. and still the lower hudson precipitation. a number of locations reporting getting just over an inch of snow. the it's mixing with sleet. and it will all change to rain. and temperatures on the way to about 51 degrees today. and that's in the city and cooler for some of the suburbs and still however we're going head into another 50-degree day tomorrow. and 52 degrees, mostly dry and late rain latent into thursday but looks dry for new year's eve. >> all right. thank you. this just in to the cbs 2 news newsroom, multiple cars, possibly dozens of them, burning in some kind of lot in new jersey. you can see firefighters trying to douse the flames from earlier this morning. police say it happened around 3:30 a.m. there are no injuries reported and no word yet on how the fire the big apple's first building of microapartments is about to open. thousands of people applied to live in caramel place on east 27th street. unit just 300 square feet but they come with features and furniture to save on space. and rents typically start at $2,600 a month and go up to about $3,000. the building is set to open in march. i'm andrea grymes. we are back with another local update in about 25 minutes. right after this. the centers for medicare and medicaid services recently asked patients to rate the quality of over 3.500 hospitals. fewer than 6% received 5 stars. among them was cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia. >> a fire chief risked his life to rescue a man trapped inside a car after it crashed head on into a utility pole. york, pennsylvania chief nate tracy ran to the car as flames surged from its back end monday. tracy leaned into the car, pulled the man out, dragged him to safety as you can see just as help arrived. the man suffered head injuries and smoke inhalation, but he is expected to be okay. what an amazing event that was. welcome back to "cbs this morning." coming up in this half hour, residents of a southern california neighborhood could be out of their home for months. harmful gas has been leaking into the community and making why it took so long to fix a well. a pioneer of heavy metal music died. lemmy kilmister, we'll show you how his lifestyle influenced the songs he wrote. that's ahead. the "new york times" says police in belgium have arrested two people suspected of planning new year's eve terrorist attacks t. suspects were detained after searches on sunday and monday. prosecutors say the twoped to attack several targets in brussels. police found uniforms and isis propaganda but no weapons or explosives. the alleged plot is not related to last month's terrorist attacks in paris. the we'll journal reports on an agreement between south korea and japan over so-called comfort women. these were korean women used as sex slaves by japanese soldiers in world war ii. japan's prime minister apologized. and they visited foreign comfort japan will pay $8 million to support the victims. it could reenforce their ties and help them to confront china. the search for country music craig strictland set to resume today. strictland and a friend chase moreland went on a hunting trip. moreland's body was found yesterday after police found their capsized boat. severe winter weather hit the area over the weekend. >> the houston chronicle reports a hoverboard that forced police to evacuate a houston area shopping mall. witnesses say the board was still in its box, but it caught on fire inside a kiosk at the mall filling the immediate area with smoke t. fire was extinguished. the mall quickly reopened. they are tracking children's data in self targeted ads. more than half laptops or tablets bought by u.s. public schools for dradz k through 12 were chrome books. they run on google software. google says it is committed to keeping students information private and secure. a southern california gas company says it has pinpointed the location of a noxious gas leak in los angeles. the fumes captured by an infrared camera forced thousands the neighborhood. the company says it could be months before the leak is plugged. we see the toll on families. >> reporter: an underground well in the hills of porter ranch is leaking. this infrared camera shows methane gas billowing into the air. it was shot by the environmental defence fund. a law firm representing several homeowners filing suits against utility company shared these images. >> you could smell the gas inside the house with the windows closed. and when you walked outside, it just smacked you in the face. >> reporter: robin shapiro moved her family into her parents' home after she claimed the gas made them sick. >> i was getting headaches that were lasting days and days, migraine-like headaches. then my son started getting bloody noses and respiratory issues for both of my children. >> the leak started in october. so far, more than 6500 families have filed for help. but the gas company admits there is a backlog and only 2,200 have been relocated. students at two schools will move to other schools when classes a back in session next week. >> once the leak is stopped, we'll be able to evaluate what caused the leak and we will be natural gas escaped as a result of the incident. >> reporter: the state agency that monitors air quality estimates nearly 70,000 pounds of gas is released every hour, but health officials say methane doesn't pose long-term health risks. music producer says the leak is affecting his health and his business. >> i can't work in here. i can't breathe in here sometimes. when that wind blows off that hymn, comes down that fireplace, i can't work. >> reporter: to fix the leak, the gas company drilled a relief well nearby, using magnetic technology, workers have located the leaking well some 4,000 feet below ground. they have to drill another 4,000 feet where they'll intersect the faulty well, then fill it with cement to seal it. a solution that can't come soon enough for homeowners like robin shapiro. >> we feel like this is never going to ends. we have nobody to thank but the gas company. >> for "cbs this morning." quarter ranch, california. >> 70,000 pounds of gas. >> what a way the spends your holiday, not knowing when it will end. all right, the rock music world is mourning one of the personalities. lemmy kilmister turned 70 on christmas eve and had just been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer a. long list of remarkers are offering tributes including billy idom, myles kennedy, lead singer of the brand altar bridge calls lemmy a rebel poet until the end. >> we are motorhead. we play rock 'n' roll. [ music playing ] >> reporter: with his gravelly vocals and signature style, the british rocker embodied the soul of heavy metal, influencing generations of performers. [ music playing ] motorhead in the mid-70s, the banned produced music with a hard gutteral sound. the ace of spade". >> reporter: in 1980, "the ace of spades" cracked the charts. with his heavy drinking and wild antic, lemmy's lifestyle appeared to live up to the lyrics in the songs he wrote i'm coming home". >> reporter: he penned hits for mama and coming home for ozzie osbourne. oz bourne tweeted. i lost one of my best friends, a warrior and a legend. fans salem my will be remembered for staying true to himself and his music. >> i did it right. that's about as much as i can say. that's the biggest thing you can get. you did it right. their shock and sadness on motor shhead's facebook fans. they said play lemmy's music loud, have a drink or two, share the life this wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself. he would want exactly that. a ral surprise i think. he was only diagnosed a couple days ago. people were shocked about this. a student's distracted walking has skyrocketed. we'll show you the risk of a nation wide problem that could suggests. morning". if you are headed off to, who, set your dvr so you can watch "cbs this morning" any time. you don't want to miss the honoree george lucas on why he walked away from directing at . >> the risk of distracted walking is getting new attention this morning after an indiana witnesses say the 33-year-old was looking at a device when he plunged off a cliff. research on how distraction are leading to a rising football of injuries each year. chris, good morning. >> good morning. part of the danger here is where you are looking. when your head is down, looking at your phone, you have a limited range of vision. so you may not see opticals particularly like it is here in washington. take our producer here signs another obstacle. it's resulting in injury, in some case, even deaths. they believe this man took a picture of the sunset when he took a fatal fall onto the rock below. >> he juan watching where he was walking. >> people distracted by devices like this woman seen on mall security cameras. focused on her phone, walking straight into a mound u fountain or this man talking into a phone and going right off a train platform. in a recent study, 78% of americans said storm tracker 2000ed walking is a serious issue. another study found people using tear phone while walking veered off course 61% of the time. overshot their target 13% more than when they were not storm tracker 2000ed by their device. >> reporter: a lot of people admit they don't do it. >> it's getting worse as we have more and more features on these devices we carry around with us that can distract us. >> reporter: while the number of e.r. visits doubled between 2005 and 2010 to more than 1,500, she believes the problem is actually much bigger. >> do you think the combination of texting and walk sack good >> no, just like driving and texting, biking and texting. >> reporter: researchers at ohio state found millennials are the most likely to be injured. nearly 80% stem from falls, half at home. we found kelly davis working on her phone as she walked to lunch. kelly, have you ever had a moment where you walked into something or fell? >> absolutely, i walked into a light post. >> reporter: that had to hurt. for the first time, the national safety council is adding distracted walking to its lists of unintentional death and injuries. >> that list comes out every year the bottom line here, really, is look up and look both ways when you're walking, not down at your phone, anthony. >> chris, thanks. many of us are guilty of this. >> we all do it. >> i had an incident, i was walking down to the edit room. there was a low hanging pipe. i was looking down, six stitches >> my goodness. >> air travelers that want to skip those expensive fees for changing a flight. plus a seal tries to cross a california highway and finds out that flippers only help you go fast in well it's been a messy morning commute. rain and frozen precipitation, snow and sleet primarily but starting to the see drier air work its way in so things are starting to taper. a whatever is frozen right now is going to change over to rain as temperatures work their way up to the 51 degrees today. and tomorrow, 52 degrees. although we start out dry and we have a chance for late day early thursday. >> 6, 5, 4321 fire in the hole. >> hundreds of people in pittsburgh watched as 1,400 pounds of explosives brought down the 94-year-old greenfield bridge. a local school cafeteria manager won a raffle to set off monday morning's explosion. the interstate highway under the bridge will be closed for the next few days while workers is expected to open in may of 2017. >> i have to say, it would have been fun to push that plungeer. something fascinating about blowing things up. in northern. ka california, why did the seal pass the road? the female seal climbed out of the water monday north of san francisco and repeatedly tried to cross a major highway a. rescue team and police tried to get the half ton creature back into the water. it did finally leave on its own and swam away i wonder where it was going. >> you do wonder. was it confused by the weather? wow, emotions pour out as families return to homes ripped apart by tornadoes. ahead, a look at the cleanup as a storm victim takes stock of morning." all: milk! milk! milk! milk! milk! okay! fun's over. aw. aw. thirsty? they said it would make me cool. they don't sound cool to me. guess not. you got to stick up for yourself, like with the name your price tool. people tell us their budget, not the other way around. aren't you lactose intolerant? this isn't lactose. it's milk. few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. it penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells.. don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. abreva. when it's your time to shine you want to feel good from head to toe... including your nails. introducing the latest innovation from amop\. the amop\ electronic nail care system. the fast way to file, buff, and shine for effortless, shiny wow nails! so you can step out with that amop\ confidence and shine on! the new electronic nail care system from amop\. discover card. hi! so it says here i can redeem my cashback bonus for cash. do i need to have a certain amount? 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"that my arms can never relax or my eyes can never look away?" whatcha doin? just prepping for my boss' party in a couple weeks. what are those? crest whitestrips. they whiten way better than paste. crest 3d white whitestrips... whiten 25 times better than the leading whitening toothpaste. i'd say... ...someone's making quite an impression. crest 3d white whitestrips. good morning. it is 7:56 on this tuesday, december 29th. parts of the tri-state area are waking up to snow this morning, freezing rain fell in other parts making for a slippery commute. i'm andrea grymes. and it is a weather alert day. let's take a look at the wintry mix that fell in new jersey overnight. this video is from ramsey. you can see the snow turning to rain. so if you are heading out, you may want to give yourself extra time before you head out the door. and let's head over to elise finch now for an update on the forecast. >> well, we are certainly looking at temperatures that are colder than we have seen in quite some time. monticello although it's 42 in central park. and factorrer in the winds and it feels like 16 degrees in monticello. and 25 in white plains and greenwich. and feels like 2535 degrees in central park. the satellite and radar, seeing rain in the city for many hours but in the lower hudson valley, still seeing the wintry precipitation. snow and sleet have been the primary mixes there. and as things warm up, we will continue to see all of it change to rain. the high temperature today 51 degrees. so that means we will end with all rain before everything tapers off this afternoon. and tomorrow's high 52 as well. >> thank you. firefighters rescued two hikers trapped on a ledge in a rockland county park. chopper 2 was over the scene for the rescue in hook mountain state park yesterday. three people had been stuck but a man managed to climb down and call for help. firefighters responded and helped rescue the two women who were stuck for almost three hours. no one was seriously hurt. all three will be issued park trail. just last monday, a hiker was injured in the same park after falling off a cliff. a restaurant in new jersey may need to think about changing the name. the wind mill blades fell off the wind mill restaurant last night and landed in the parking lot. it's unclear if the weather played a mart the accident. no reports of injuries. we are back with another local update in about 25 after this. kids don't stay little forever. so help them get the opportunity they need. it's never too early or too late to save for college. you can open a ny 529 account with just $25. and you may get tax benefits if you pay income tax in new york state. someday you'll look back and be glad you got started. ny's 529 college savings program. london. >> it's tuesday, december 29th, 2015, welcome back to "cbs this morning." more real news ahead, including this year's legal stories. retake a look at everything from freddie gray to bill cosby. first, here's today's eye opener at 8:00. >> reporter: the city is under a snow emergency, bracing for a storm, pictured to hit with a one-two munch. >> severe weather is a major factor in the travel chaos. >> it's all different colors, because you got sleet, ice, rain, snow. the question is, where does it >> the search for the affluenza teen and his mother are over. the question of why they were running is just getting started. >> prosecutors say mistakes were made, a radio dispatcher did not relay important information. >> the push to take ramadi, troops surrounded the town and cut off all the isis ply lines. >> donald trump did have harsh words for the manchester union lead earned the endorsed candidate, new jersey governor chris christie. >> part of the danger is where you are looking. when your head is down looking at the phone, you have a limited range of vision. you may not see obstacleslet his you are right up close. >> we are under way, henderson from the 1. into the open field. one ban to beat. he could go, the 40, the 30. 99 yards. >> i'm anthony mason with and for ra are off. parts of the northeast are experiencing the first taste of winter as the deadly storm atlantic. it's sparked other weather events, flash flooding, swollen rivers flooded dozens of homes in branson, missouri, the mississippi river, rather, could crest at historic levels. >> in new mexico, highways turned icy and treacherous. much of the state saw blizzard conditions and high water in illinois made a stretch of interstate 70 impassable. freezing rain and winds caused power lines to twist and crack. >> let's bring back lonnie quinn, chief weathercaster, on good morning again. >> good morning, anthony, if you take a look at what that storm is doing right now, you see all the colors out there. the blue shows you where the know is. the pink is particularly hazardous, that is a big swath of icing. have you the grown, a lot of rain. where this will go, the low pressure responsible for all of this is going to push off to the east. it will take the moisture wit. i tell you, this has been a funk of a season as far as snowfall. take a look at these numbers, vermont should have 21.3 inches. so far, 2.1. boston should have.1. they've had zero. buffalo should have almost 3 feet of snow, so far officially an inch. who gets the big snow as you finish out this day? it will be the areas well north, talking like the white mountain the 14 mountains into the state of maine, who see six-to-12 inches or more. into the afternoon, new york city, hanging at 52 degrees. it's wet, it's not white. across the country. you find a 26 degrees high temperature in kansas city, ice book, international falls with balmy temperature of 15 degrees, out west, 40 degrees up to seattle, about 53 for san francisco, 61 will be your high temperature for l.a. this day saying it's a flip-flop from what we've seen so far this year. so far this winter, it's all been about the west coast and the storms out there. today the west coast is calm. it's the east coast that gets a bit of the air action. it's the biggest storm we've had. it's not enormous. you can get snow well to the north. over to you. >> lonnie, thank you. people affected by the storms have begun the painful process of assessing what was lost. tornadoes damaged or destroyed more than 1,400 homes. places in texas were the hardest hit. david begnaud is in garland as survivors share how they survived the deadly twisters. good morning. >> reporter: good morning the couple that lived at this moem home in garland was at a party t. house is destroyed. across the city of garland, some 600 homes and businesses have either been damaged or levelled. int city of garland, eight people died. all of them died in their vehicles. mile from here. the largest of the nine tornadoes that tore through northeast texas was more than five football fields wide. for 13 miles, it barrelled through the cities of garland and roulette, killing eight of the 11 people that died in the dallas area. petra ruiz was a mother of four. she was on her way home when the tornado tossed her vehicle off interstate 30. >> oh, i see it. right there. >> reporter: ruiz and several other died when their cars went airborne, before the tornado hit, she made one last phone call to her husband. he rushed to find her. >> she started screaming. scream and scream and her phone went blank. i grabbed her wrist to see if she had a pulse and she was gone. >> reporter: are we standing on the roof? >>. this is actually the bathroom. >> reporter: the home of the they say they hid in the closet and could feel the house literally lift off the ground. >> the lights flickered. it just went pitch black. we got down into the closet like literally within seconds of this thing hitting us. >> reporter: in less than 20 second the home collapsed on top of them. theys heard their screams for help, but it took more than an hour to pull them from under the debris. >> this is the closet we were in. it rained a little more. this was up a little more. we were actually, they dug us out. >> reporter: despite the fact that the home collapsed on top of them, anthony, the mom, dad and two daughters had minor injuries. >> david begnaud, thanks. the severe weather is causing few travel headaches. cancellations and delays airports. some travelers are turning to start-up companies for help. "options action" away and flyer offer customers a way to hold specific flights for up to three customers can lock in lower rates and avoid change fees, a travel reporter for usa today, >> good morning. the airlines made nearly $3 billion last year on these change fees which everybody hates. how do these businesses help travel, avoid them? >> basically, they put a hold on a flight for a specified amount of time for a very small fee. you can go ahead and book the flight if you want it. if you don't want it, you are paying hundreds of dollars to the flight before you committed before you knew what your travel plans were going to be. >> how small of a fee are we talking here? >> it ranges from 2 to. it's not a lot. >> some airlines are offering this service together. >> that's right. united airlines lets you hold a flight for three days or seven days for $3 or 9 and american lirl airline for up to 24 hours can you have that option or go to a middleman company if you prefer that. >> airlines are also getting in on it. that's a sign they're also making money off of this. does this overall actually in anyway save you the cost of a ticket or does this inflate prices by creating an "options action" market? >> the good thing is you have a lot of different "options action." if you went from one carrier to another. that's two different fees. that's likeden ten or $15. compared to what you have to pay if you have to rebook the flight and pay that change fee, that itself a moretune for a lot of people zbe if you think this is worth the money, if you are nervous? >> i think it can be, things happen, your partner you are traveling with may have to change their plans. you want a little flexible to build in the comfort and lock in that low fare when you find it. >> well, flight insurance is a little different. if there is a problem, a calamity, if you feed help getting back. if there is a disaster where you are, you have to get back home. this is kind of a different thing. it's insurance on the front end, if you change your minds, you will not be out of hundreds of dollars. the airline hits with you that big price tag. >> if these companies are holding seats for potential travelers, does that in anyway make the system more gummed up? >> they're not really holding it. they're looking at the universal seats, they are baik making a cam calculation they can guarantee this flight in this window of time at this price. if that flight goes away, they will find you a similar itinerary, if the fare goes up, they'll give you the difference. >> interesting idea. >> it's getting more and more complex to travel. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> george lucas transformed the way we watch movies. he brought "star wars" to the charlie rose talks to see how everyone needs a bff. even your smile. colgate optic white toothpaste in fact, it whitens more than the leading express whitening strip. it's your smile bff. >> we reported earlier on major new developments in the tamir rice case. a grand jury decided not to bring criminal charges against cleveland police officers involved in his shooting death. >> that case is just the latest in a year filled with big legal news. we have a look back and the cases to watch for in 2016. good morning. >> good morning. >> there are these calls for calm in cleveland in the wake of the grand jury decision. >> ultimately, i don't think i'm surprised be i the decision, because the material that went into the grand jury as it's become public as a story is very different than what we see in chicago with jason van dyke. in tamir rice, one thing we do know from the report is there was an enhanced video and that enhanced video supposedly showed this boy who had a pellet gun, having that gun in his hand at the time the police arrived. it was a case of complete miscommunication, misunderstanding and by the way, lack of training, which brings me to chicago because the case of the area in chicago, that is ending '15 an beginning '16 is police officer jason van dyke. why is his case so different? again, a video. but what sus this video show, it a slight way of saying it if they talked about this young man laquan mcdonald moving towards the police. the video appeared to be abundantly clear he was moving away from the police, one police officer shoot him 16 times. >> this is the case you are watching most closely this coming year? >> i think jason van dyke is a case we must watch closely this year. it is, if you go to 2014 and ferguson, what happens with jason van dyke in chicago is not just jason van dyke. it creates a whole political atmosphere we must be aware of not only in chicago but nationwide, ultimately the lessons learned is training, training, training. we have got to take police officers and make them able to slow down both with people who present because their demeanor people emotionally disturbed. >> these are emotionally fraught cases. >> correct. >> in the d.c. area where i live, we are very focused on what's happening in baltimore with freddie gray. >> i think freddie gray has to be the case they will become most involved with for "cbs this morning" by virtual of six trials coming up here. the first trial as we know, william porter, the end of 2015. he is found nothing, not acquitted. not convicted. a hung jury, a big loss for the prosecution at that point. so where are they going next? we begin 2016 with the driver of the car caesar goodson. when have you officer goodson. he is the only one who is charged with murder not manslaughter, it's not a reckless endangerment. even though there are lesser included offenses. it is murder. he is the driver of the van what we're going to find out in that case is, first of all, can the government prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and second of all, which perhaps is first, is can you get a fair trial in baltimore after the hung jury in the porter case the first of the freddie gray. these are going one after other after another for months. >> i want to get to one other case, there have been a prominent case, bill cosby is suing some of his accusers. what do you make of that? >> well, bill cosby was not going to sit idly by. it's all about defamation. his lawyers say you defamed me, okay, i'm defameing you. we're going to do this rounds and round. it's an aggressive defense. it will be a big case in the '16. >> interesting year ahead, thank you so much. from high drama to every day photos that show the story of our world. next the results of national geographic's 20s 15 photo . [male announcer] in ireland, we live in what we like to call the now. it's a wonderful place where the conversation flows. in the now, the sun always shines, even when it's raining. you might even meet friendly locals with long shaggy hair. and find yourself lost in music in the middle of the day. jump into the now. jump into ireland. visit ireland.com to find out more. . only on "cbs this morning," we are revealing the winners of national geographic's 2015 photo contest. tornado touching down in colorado. amazing. australian photographer james smart called the picture simply dirt. he captured the dramatic image while chasing storms in the west. national geographic divided the contest into three concern is place, people and nature. >> a binghamton new york man won the people photo with a young man and his bicycle in a uganda slum. a pick showing a marsh damaged by radioactive waste. some of the honorable mentions include photos from iran, indonesia, taiwan and lithuania. the grand prize winner takes home $10,000 and a national traffic seminar. can you see all the pictures at "cbs this morning."com. >> a great shot national geographic brings out the best >> indeed. ahead, how an american ent tren (newer in china is helping people find english good morning. 8:25 on this tuesday, december 29th. we begin with a weather alert. the mild weather we experienced over christmas is officially over. a winter storm system moved through the area overnight. leaving behind some snow, sleet and ice on the roads and making for has had arduous driving conditions this morning. in new york city, it's been more wet than white but a snow alert remains in effect this morning and the department of sanitation has salt on the ready if conditions turn more icy. and now for the latest on the wintry mix, let's go to elise finch with the forecast. >> well, we are looking at the temperatures because they play a crucial role in when things turn other from icy precipitation to all rain but take a look at the numbers. definitely colder than we have currently 28 in monticello and 32 in central park. it feels like 17 in monticello. feels like 35 in central park. 25 for white plains and greenwich. and a look at the vortex satellite and radar. it does show we have drier air moving in. so pockets where we're not seeing the rain. still some of the precip, snow and sleet have been the primary players up there, some places get at least an inch of snow. 51 degrees, that's the forecast high for today. and everything turns to rain before it all tapers offer. 52 degrees the expected high tomorrow as well. >> thank you. we have new video this morning of a disturbing attack on a 60-year-old man in brooklyn. cameras captured the attack and then the suspects rifling through his pockets as a second suspect joins in. and cameras caught photos of the two men police believe are responsible. neighbors are concerned that the suspects may return and rob more people. to find the men responsible. >> we are following all the video footage that we could retrieve. and we have unites right now that are retrieving footage. and i give a pledge to the community, we will find these people. >> the victim was robbed of his cellphone as well as all the cash he had on him. and he kneed more than 70 stitches -- he needed more than 70 niches to his head. -- 70 stitches to his head. you can see firefighters on the scene in new jersey. they have been trying to get a fire under control for some time now. police say the fire started around 3:30 a.m. no word on how it started. i'm diane macedo. we are back with another local update in about 25 minutes but "cbs this morning" returns in stay with us. >> welcome back to "cbs this morning." coming up in this half hour, a new approach for chinese people who want english nicknamed. meet the young american avoiding choices like ghost. >> you don't want that name make the? >> i kind of liked it. >> before "star wars" episode 7 became a global phenomenon, charlie rose traveled to skywalker ranch for an in-depth conversation with the series creator george lucas. how they created an entire galaxy on the silver screen. >> time to show you the headline reports on a crackdown on sidewalk graffiti that promotes justin bieber's few album "purpose." it's a part of a gorilla marketing campaign. the attorney said he will groat pursue all available penalties for those responsible. the label has not commented. "time" reports on a facebook post circulating this month. it says, in part, mark zuckerberg is giving away $45 billion of facebook stock, what you may not have heard is he plans to give 10% away to people leak you and me. all you have to do is copy it no a post immediately. facebook confirms, zuckerberg has no such plans. >> it is a hoax. all right. and the san diego union tribune reports on eric wet el. the safety for the chargers fined $10,000. last week he stayed on the field to watch one of his daughter's dance at the halftime of the he apparently didn't tell team officials beforehand. they say he violated team policy. he had been feuding over contract negotiations, you think he should be able to see his daughter dance. >> you would think. you would sometimes ask what is in a name? in shanghai china, it's a business opportunity for an entrepreneur, how an expat turned it into a service for young chinese people. >> reporter: good morning the lesson those lost in translation moments is calling for chinese to take an english nickname. sometimes those nicknames are unusual. i work with a girl hayes, haze. my chinese teacher is named echo. on the streets of shanghai, we met cheng and longjing, their names. >> el en. >> and your name? >> is jean. >> reporter: jo hung goes by why do you have an english name? >> everyone has one at work he told us. but many nicknames do not exactly translate well to native english speakers. we met a girl named king and at star bucks a government and a right as in mr. right. >> a lot of international restaurants around. >> reporter: american lindsey jurn gen was introduced to this phenomenon when she moved from washington, d.c. to shanghai and started meeting people. >> their names were boat, 11, apple. there were normal ones like edison eddie for short. >> reporter: what did you think of all these names? >> at first i was sort of confused, curious, why is this your english name? >> reporter: in all of this, she saw an opportunity an launched a website to help chinese find an english name. >> we have the name the origin. about 30. it's people that are kind of getting a little more serious about tear job of stgd abroad. >> users can take a quiz where for $45 get a 30 minute one on one consultation. jurnigenex plains the meaning of names and chinese often want one uncommon and similar to their chinese name. >> i like when chinese people say i don't have an english name. ly stick with my chinese name. but we're in china. >> yeah,tomily. so on our website, you never say they have to have an english name. it's very much a resource for people actively already looking for a english name. >> almost all of my friends have an english fame. >> reporter: meet this 28-year-old, formerly known as 11. the number of her favorite soccer player. >> reporter: when you told people my name is 11, what did >> that's my trouble. they always say, seven, seven-11 is a famous comedian star in china. they go where is 7. >> caution another 7-eleven joke? >> right. >> after working with jurnagen, 11 became kira. >> it's not that common. it sounds smart. tier kira knightley. >> some names just don't work. >> you run into a name 14 or yellow and you have a name scarlet, violet, so i totally understand why it's confusing. >> reporter: there is a learning curve for all involved. this juice store manager was formerly known as ding, his new name courtesy of jurnigen took some practice for his father. >> that's what your dad said? he couldn't pronounce it when you told him? now this goes both ways, in japan, they have a hard time pronounceing the th in my name. here in china the ministry of foreign affairs has given me a chinese name, doan, it means much kindness. for "cbs this morning," seth doane in shanghai. >> i apt chinese nickname. that's by a want. >> what an amazing business modem. the force awakens is blasting to new heights at the box office, charlie rose asks "star wars" biggest moments in zblomplts >> "star wars" "the force awakens" continues to shatter box office records, the seventh installment in the franchise passed a billion dollars in ticket sales faster than any movie in history. it's been almost four decades since the first "star wars" hit forever, legendary creator george lucas spans a career 45 years now, his impact gave him cinematic honors. charlie rose met with him at his skywalker ranch in california he talks about what it means to be a director. >> a director is somebody who's got a fetish with making the world the way he wants it to be. saturday of nars cystic. >> that's you? >> all directors. >> they're not all different. >> all directors are vaguely like emmoreers, whichemmorers, emperors. he can do it with less money and say i will create a world where people can fly. >> reporter: george lucas didn't create a new society. he constructed an entire galaxy. [ music playing ] wars" series, is a sci-fi space odyssey with odd creatures and epic space battles. but its genius lies in the simple story beneath all of that. timeless elements like family. >> i am your father. >> is there a stronger? >> no. >> and the fight between good and evil. as its creator lucas has been called one of the most innovative film makers in history. in his heart, he considers himself a storyteller. >> didn't you intend to in the beginning create really three movies when you started? and then you decide only to take one part of that life story? >> yeah, i took the first affect. then the first act didn't really work. then i said, okay, i have to take the ending of the third it's what you do, you have a bunch of stuff on your desk while you are creating. let me stick that in here. i wasn't worried that much about the sequels. i was actually making it. i have make this the best film some when i moved onto the other once, ben kenobi is dead, i killed him. how am i going to fix that? and what do i do? i blew the deficit star. that's what the ending is. but part of it was simply when i got down to some of the other movies, i was able to create an environment in a world that wasn't possible when i started the first one, so to me getting yoda to do a sword fight, which i had always wanted to do, i couldn't do it. because he was a muppet. >> reporter: lucas became a pioneer in the world of special effects. >> it's dead ahead. changed the way films are made. and he changed how they sound, too. 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 rock"? his movie "american graffiti" lucas opted out of a composer and nar rated the entire story with popular songs. >> that's the clearest inpoint for a teenager is the music. half of what a teenager is, is yeah. the other half is trouble. or raging hormones or whoever we describe it. at the same time, that's what the movie is about. hormones? >> i should have called it that. we were looking for title, you finally fixed it out. the studioped to call it another slow night in mo deficito. with you cars, music and raging hormones would have been much better. >> reporter: the low budget film was one of the most commercially successful films of its time. before he was 40, lucas went on to make the first three "star wars" and "indiana jones, raiders of the lost arc." and then, he walked away. >> i mean, i gave up directing in order to become a dad. you know, for 15 years. i just ran a company and was an innovator. but it was not doing what i really like to do which is actually make movies. >> reporter: that's because you wanted to be a dad? >> because, yeah, and i never, it was one of those things you don't expect it to happen. but once i was a dad, it was like a bolt of lightning struck me. >> reporter: lucas adopted his first daughter with his wife marsha in 1981. after they divorced, he adopted two more children and raised everybody says the following things, you are so -- in 2013, he married mellody hobson an executive investor and cbs contributor. >> we found out we are exactly the same. >> reporter: together they have a two-year-old daughter. >> it's a miracle. that's how i see it. it shouldn't have happened. somehow it did. >> reporter: here in skywalker ranch in san francisco, george is once again able to concentrate on being a father. three years ago, he sold his company lucas films to disney for $4 billion. who are you? >> no one. >> reporter: let me just talk about "the force awakens." how do you feel about it? >> well, it's, you know, i made the decision to sell the company "star wars." i made that decision because i at the process, i was going to get married, i wanted to build a museum, i was married. i wanted to make experiment am films. so my life was going on a different track. so that started that ball rolling. and so, in the end, when i sold it, they hired j.j. to come in. >> reporter: are you at peace >> yeah. >> reporter: as much as you can be? >> look, i said, i'm fine. fortunate i am old enough to have been through this stuff before. i'm sure it will do a nag 95 sent -- mag sen 95 sents oo magnificent business. >> george lucas, he's a path findered and a pioneer. >> reporter: at the awards, his good friend steven spielberger, plained the george legacy best. >> he's insane, he makes three movies every year, stephen, when are you going to retire? he said, i'm not going to retire. my ultimate dream is to die on the set and keel over in the middle of shooting. i said, gee, my ambition is to die in bed watching one of your movies on television. >> reporter: but that doesn't mean he's slowing down any time soon. because you have worn all these hats, though, film maker, director, storyteller, writer, technological innovator, what do you want the first line of your obituary to say? >> i was a great dad. or i tried. >> it's so interesting when somebody that successful walks away from something so monumental that they've created. fascinating. >> and to have such vision, to be able to see through all these different, you know, creations. >> i will never forget the night wars" film. like in on air, amazing. you can see george lucas and all the winners at the kennedy center honors tonight at 9:00, 8:00 central here on cbs. a fire fighter goes to a classroom with more than safety on his minds. see the surprise he had waiting next on >> a proposal. new york city fire leiutenant david royal gave a safety lesson to a kindergarten class last week. he asked the kids, if the teacher, to put on his fire gear. she did. and then he asked her to marry him. natalie and david have been together two years. her students screamed out. i wonder if they knew it was going on. tonight for good morning. 8:55. i'm diane macedo. we begin with a weather alert today. a mix of rain and snow fell overnight in the tri-state area. and we have video in from ramsey, new jersey. you can see the snow turning to rain there. give yourself some extra time before you head out the door today if you are commuting later on. and for the latest on the system that's moving through the area, here's elise finch with the forecast. >> things are starting to improve a little bit. temperatures are warming. although it's the 28 degrees in monticello. and 31 for sparta. white plains barely above the freezing mark. with the wind chill. and feels like 25 in white plains and greenwich. okay, not a huge improvement but overall, temperatures are warming. and we are seeing the last of the wintry precipitation mixing completely to rain. and looking at some of the rain as we move through new york points south. 51 degrees, that will be the high temperature today and the rain tapers off around 1:00. >> thank you so much. firefighters rescued two hikers trapped on a ledge in rockland county park. chopper 2 was over the scene in hook mountain state park. three people had been stuck but one climber managed to get down did and call for help. two more climbers were stuck there for almost three hours seriously hurt. and all three will be issued tickets for not saying on the hiking trail. a jersey city toddler who was shot in the face over the weekend is wake up in his own bed this morning after being the 18-month-old was injure when had a stray bullet hit his the cheek. and after the shooting, his father demanded justice calling on the mayor to do something about the increase in crime. he told us he got some what home. police have not made an arrest. our next newscast is at noon but we're always on at cbsnewyork.com. we'll see at noon. kids don't stay little forever. so help them get the opportunity they need. it's never too early or too late to save for college. you can open a ny 529 account with just $25. and you may get tax benefits if you pay income tax in new york state. someday you'll look back and be glad you got started. ny's 529 college savings program.