Porches all across america. Were talking about the grinch here who literally stole christmas. Why this is happening more than ever and how to make sure you get your holiday delivery. And is this the worlds saddest Christmas Tree . The people in one American City complaining about their spindly spruce. It just reminds me of Charlie Brown. Now the mayor under pressure to produce a yuletide upgrade. Hey, good morning, everybody. Lets get straight to our top story. The weather whiplash in much of america. But nowhere is the change more dramatic than in hardhit buffalo, new york, where after days of fierce and fatal snowfall, they are now looking at a whole different kind of problem, a big warmup, which will melt all that snow and produce potentially dangerous and devastating flooding. As of right now, though, that massive snowpack is very much in place, which poses a giant logistical problem for the hometown nfl team, the Buffalo Bills, who have had to move their game. Some of the players even hitching rides to the airport on snowmobiles. You can see it right there. Meteorologist rob marciano is covering all of this from Ralph Wilson Stadium. Rob, good morning to you, sir. Good morning, dan. We are about ten degrees warmer today than we were yesterday so some melting of the snow but as you can see behind me theres just way too much in Ralph Wilson Stadium to have a Football Game being played today and moved it tomorrow. I guess it would help if there was a roof on that but thats been a big problem because roofs have been pushed to the limit and many have failed. Youre looking at 1 of nearly 30 roof collapses just south of buffalo, new york, this week under the weight of nearly 80 inches of snow, and as the rain begins to fall, residents fear flooding and more collapses on the way. Take a look. The weight of the snow cracking glass and window panes. And as for the roads, they started digging that car out but whats the sense . This road hasnt been touched. Can you imagine living like this for six days and counting . Residents unable to climb over the compact snow and ice are cut off from food and medicine. This man turned to his tractor and plow when his wifes water broke. You have got to be kidding me. Like what are we going to do . Im like, only one thing in my mind. Reporter driving in whiteout conditions to the nearest hospital. The baby decides to come early, middle of the blizzard, unbelievable. [ sirens ] reporter this is one of the few roads in South Buffalo that is clear. Main reason, its the way to the hospital. Hundreds of volunteers stepping up in the city of Good Neighbors armed with snow shovels. Stronger than the guys of buffalo. Right . Still snowed out of their home stadium the Buffalo Bills will play their not so home game in detroit. Some of the players so snowed in, they were hitching rides on snowmobiles to make the flight. As the icy weather sets in highways becoming dangerously slick and riddled with mangled cars from michigan to pennsylvania. Even runways so slick from ice this delta flight to detroit skidding into a ditch on landing. No one was hurt. We did have a brief period of freezing rain in buffalo yesterday but have since warmed and rain overnight and this parking lot has puddles in it and more puddles to come. Our flood watches have been now upgraded to flood warnings, a number of creeks and tributaries will go into flood stage in the next 24 hours, that is going to be a huge issue as all of this snow continues to melt. Well see temperatures warm dramatically. Take a look at this map into the 60s leer across western new york tomorrow and 10 to 15 degrees above average and above where we are today. 70s and 80s elsewhere. Big warmup. Paula. Rob, those folks not getting a break. Thank you. Well check in with you a little bit later. And now to ferguson, missouri. The country is on edge awaiting a decision from the grand jury. They are deciding whether to charge a white Police Officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen. So, how close are they to reaching a decision . Abcs alex perez is in ferguson with a time line as the city braces for more violent protests. Good morning, alex. Reporter hey, good morning, paula, the grand jury expected back here at the Justice Center to continue their work tomorrow. Now, Michael Browns mother hitting the streets of ferguson pleading for peace. All no justice, no peace. Reporter overnight Michael Browns mother attending a special march on the street where brown was killed calling for peace and justice. I dont want nobody getting hurt. You see what im saying . Because when i walk in the courtroom i want all yall with me. Reporter we now know the grand jury will not resume its work until monday. Nearing its final decision will bring bigger and more violent clashes between protesters and รท police. Many Business Owners here taking no chances boarding up their windows ahead of a possible grand jury announcement. Triundis sleet says her beauty salon sat nearly empty since august when protesters here began demanding officer Darren Wilson be charged for the Fatal Shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. People are scared to come. Reporter over the weekend authorities putting up barricades outside the st. Louis county Justice Center where the grand jury has been meeting since august 20th. Nine white, three black, seven men, five women reflecting the racial makeup of the county will need nine votes to indict wilson on murder or manslaughter charges. Prosecutors have said due to the unique nature and high profile of the case jurors have had three months of complete access to evidence and witnesses with any connection to the investigation including testimony from officer wilson himself in september and dr. Michael baden, the forensic pathologist asked by the brown family to perform an independent autopsy. The d. A. Is trying to present a case that if there is no indictment, they can say, look, it was them. Reporter prosecutors insisting on transparency hoping to eliminate any doubts when the grand jury finally reaches a decision. And as we await that grand jury decision, the st. Louis county Police Department says their officers have switched over to 12hour shifts hoping to be ready to deal with anything should it come up. Dan. Everyone trying to get ready for this decision. Alex perez on the ground, thank you. Lets bring in abc news chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos who talked to president obama about the situation in ferguson in an exclusive interview that will air in full later this morning on this week. Good morning, sir. Hi, dan. So when you talked to him, he called for calm. We know that but i guess im trying to get a sense from you of how worried they are behind the scenes about this and what, if anything, the administration can do to stop violence. Theyve been worried for quite a while. Thats why youve seen the attorney general talk about the situation as well and talk to the governor, jay nixon and the fbi putting out a report warning of violence around the country in the wake of this but they dont know a whole lot more about whats going on inside the grand jury than anyone else. The president is considering whether to go there after the fact depending on what unfolds on the ground, but theyre doing everything they can now just to urge calm. So there may be a president ial visit at some point. Let me switch gears and talk to you about Hillary Clinton because i know you asked the president about what his working relationship may be with hillary assuming she runs for president. He didnt quite confirm she is running but he did talk about their relationship. Oh, yeah, and he talked about how he expected to work with hillary or any democratic candidate Going Forward although certainly does seem shes the you know, going full steam ahead towards a run right now. One of the most interesting things he said is that he understands how people will be looking for what he called a fresh new car smell the next time around but also he in a way gave his blessing to hillary or any democrat, you know, to create some distance from him, to bang him around if they need to. He knows that may be necessary for any democratic candidate, but he also said, and this is very important to him, it is very important to him to try to get a democrat to succeed him and lock in what he thinks are the gains of his two terms. Right, so hes willing to take some dings to his ego in order to secure his legacy. Exactly. George, thank you very much. We should remind you that george has a big show. You can see all of his wideranging and exclusive interview with president obama and they will, of course, talk about the president s controversial Immigration Initiative coming up later this morning on this week right here on abc. George, thank you. Thanks, dan. Well be watching. We move to the crisis on campus after a very disturbing Sexual Assault allegation at one of americas most prominent colleges, the university of virginia. The school is now cracking down on all uva fraternities after an outcry that they failed to respond strongly enough in the first place, and abcs bazi kanani is right there. Good morning, bazi. Reporter good morning, paula. A quieter weekend here fraternity row, all of the university of virginias fraternities suspend as the president calls for a criminal investigation and serious change to protect students. Overnight protesters in place of partyers at the university of virginias fraternity houses voicing outrage over the schools handling of Sexual Assault cases. Its been anger that this is happening and a little bit of shame. Reporter several angry protests this week sparked by a scathing Rolling Stone article. An 18yearold freshman telling the magazine the devastating story of her alleged rape by seven young men at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in 2012. These are our students, both the victims and the perpetrators. Reporter now the university is taking bolder action suspending all fraternities and their events for the rest of wai this semester. Its president writing in a statement, we can demand that incidents like those described in Rolling Stone never happen and that that if they do the responsible are held accountable to the law. The university of virginia just 1 of 86 schools nationwide now under federal investigation over the handling of Sexual Violence and harassment complaints. President obama launching a task force in may to address alarming rates of Sexual Assault on american campuses at private and Public Institutions like dartmouth, princeton and ohio state university. Here in virginia, the states attorney general is appointing a special investigator, and Governor Terry mcauliffe is calling for a zero tolerance policy to combat Sexual Assault. Paula, dan. Bazi, thank you. We were talking about that article in Rolling Stone. If those allegations are true, quite bothersome. Its a huge problem all over the country right now. All right. Bazi kanani, once again, thank you. Lets turn to Ron Claiborne for a look at the other top stories this morning. Good morning, sir. Good morning to you, dan harris, paula faris and rachel smith. Good morning, everyone. We begin with breaking news overnight former washington, d. C. Mayor marion barry has died. The fourterm mayor and current d. C. Council member died in a d. C. Hospital saturday night. In 1990 as mayor he went to prison on cocaine charges caught on video smoking crack. And then he staged an astounding political comeback by being elected mayor again four years later. Marion barry was 78 years of age. We also have breaking news right now out of london. A train station, an underground station has been evacuated because of a fire that broke out in the front carriage of a train. It happened at the cherring cross station. The fire has now been put out but firefighters are dealing with smoke which has spread to an adjacent hotel. No injuries have been reported there. Staying overseas, combat missions for u. S. Troops in afghanistan have been extended. Afghanistans parliament overwhelmingly approved a bilateral Security Agreement allowing International Troops to stay in the country beyond the end of this year. This comes amid a renewed offensive by taliban militants. American troops will be allowed to target taliban fighters if they are threatening u. S. Soldiers or providing support for al qaeda. The deal will not affect the overall number of troops in afghanistan. And in cleveland, a 12yearold boy is in serious condition after being shot by a Police Officer. The boy who was inside of a Recreational Center saturday afternoon was apparently brandishing what turned out to be a fake gun. A man who watched the boy playing with the gun called 911. The guy keeps pulling it in and out of his pants. Its probably fake but its scaring the [ bleep ] out of me. The boy never made any verbal threats. Island air owned by Larry Ellison is facing christmas bonus backlash. Pilots are outraged after being asked, asked to give back a 4,000 christmas bonus that they got. Airline Officials Say the bonuses were supposed to be paid out once the Company Received a new fleet of aircraft. But that aircraft shipment has now been delayed until next summer and the airline Officials Say they will restore the bonuses if they give them back at that time. And finally one of the most recognizable pieces of hollywood memorabilia is going up for auction. If i were king of the forest you remember that. Thats the cowardly lions costume from the movie classic wizard of oz. It will be put up for bid tomorrow in new york city. The owner, a collector hopes to fetch a sevenfigure price. The record, by the way, for hollywood memorabilia, can you guess from marilyn monroe. 25 million. 5. 5 million bucks. Not a lot of money to dan harris, maybe. But that was for Marilyn Monroes white dress in sevenyear itch. Wow yeah, its hanging on my wall. It looks good. Get your bid in for the next one. Okay . Thank you, ron. That costume would be great to have. Cheap at twice the price. Well, it is that time, the holidays are upon us, the time to give unless you are a brazen thief. All across the country they are stealing packages from right off peoples front door steps, and abcs linzie janis has details and tips to make sure it doesnt happen to you. Linzie, i have a couple of ideas. Good morning, paula. tis the season for shopping online and shipping gifts straight to your door. But for scrooges its also the season for stealingle its not even thanksgiving yet and these thieves are already hard at work. Check it out. These videos captured on Home Security cameras across the country show grinches trying to ruin your holiday. The worst thing you can do is let a package sit out all day and night because you never know when a wouldbe thief might do their own Christmas Shopping off your front porch. Reporter watch as this woman walks onto this front porch near detroit Late Wednesday and boldly snatches a fedex package. Its happening in broad daylight too. This man walking onto a porch in houston earlier this month. A cigarette in his mouth as he makes off with a large box. They prey upon, you know, watching that delivery person, all they have to do is see the truck pull up and they know theres going to be a package somewhere. Reporter in tennessee this woman approaches a front door, moments later scurries off with a box under each arm then quickly drives off in her car. Were talking about the grinch here who literally stole christmas from little kids. Reporter its an ongoing problem for police during the holiday season. One report estimates most of those little brown boxes left on our doorsteps are worth 28 throughout the year. But as christmas approaches, with the average package worth 124. For police, videos like this one crucial to stopping grinches in their tracks. In philadelphia, you can see this woman casually walking up to a home, stealing a package, then just as casually walking away. Apparently its so convenient in philadelphia, this man is able to do it with one hand while holding his 1yearold daughter in the other. So heres some tips from police on how to make sure this doesnt happen to you. First always get a tracking number so when you know when your package will arrive. Then if you arent going to be home, ask a friend or a neighbor get it for you. If possible, have items sent to your work and if youre sending a package to someone, pay that extra money to have a delivery that requires a signature. It takes all the convenience out of it, bah humbug. It does. But still. How brazen of that thief to carry his little child. I know. What kind example for the kid. Its ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. A bad one. Thank you. Linzie, thank you. Well move to a christmas story of a less menacing but slightly more pathetic variety. Heres the question, is this right here the saddest Christmas Tree in the United States of america . Perhaps even the world. Many people in reading, pennsylvania, say empha