In the air three to six feet from a person who is infected. The important advice to stay healthy coming up. And shes back. Its official. Mariah carey returning to new years eve. Ill just get through it, okay. One year after her disastrous times square performance. Boy, we cant wait for that as we do say good morning. Happy holidays. Merry christmas. Im kendis gibson. Im erielle reshef. Hopefully youve already arrived where you want to be this morning. In much of the country, poor driving conditions in many areas. In others, you may not even be able to get your car started because temperatures will be so cold. Abcs Elizabeth Hur with the story. Reporter Mother Nature delivering a White Christmas for millions across the country, even mild cities like portland and seattle waking up to this rare december snow. Enough snow for frosty the snowman to make this cameo and forcing some drivers to turn to salt and a good push to get their cars moving again. For plow Truck Drivers, a busy night trying to stay ahead of the storm, trying to avoid a repeat of scenes like this in maine, tow Truck Drivers using a rope to pull cars out of a ditch. The roads are slick so you got to be careful out there. Starting to freeze over. Reporter this morning, Winter Weather alerts in effect from coast to coast with parts of new england already cleaning up from all of this, now bracing for another foot of snow. If you dont have fourwheel drive, youre in trouble in the winter. Reporter that is unless you live in florida where 837 santa surfers set a new record for costumed surfers in coco beach. This on the same day drivers in kansas were slipping and sliding on the roadways. And residents in nebraska spent their Christmas Eve clearing snow out of their driveways. Elizabeth hur, abc news, new york. Our thanks to elizabeth. Well have a look at your Christmas Day forecast across the country coming up in just a few moments. We should mention that religious celebrations are already under way. Here in new york security was tight as thousands attended Midnight Mass at the citys churches. St. Patricks cathedral was jammed as you can see here with worshippers admitted only with a ticket. Pope francis compared refugees to what mary and joseph went through. And the crowds in bethlehem were thinner than in previous years after President Trump declared jerusalem to be the capital of israel. Guatemala following the u. S. Deciding to change its embassy to jerusalem. Guatemala was one of only Nine Countries to vote against the u. N. Resolution condemning the u. S. Recognition of jerusalem as israels capital. The u. S. Is slashing nearly 300 million from the u. N. s annual budget. Ambassador Nikki Haley Says the reduction is parts of a bigger plan to make the u. N. More efficient. The Trump Administration has long touted the goal of reducing contributions to the u. N. America is the largest financial contributor to the united nations. North korea is calling the latest round of u. N. Sanctions an act of war. The penalties unanimously approved by the Security Council come after repeated Ballistic Missile tests. The sanctions tighten oil imports and force those working for the regime abroad to return home. North korea says its a pipe dream for the u. S. To think it will give up its nuclear ambitions. Breaking overnight, a deadly suicide bombing in afghanistan. At least five people were killed in an attack in kabul. Officials say the device was set off in an office near the Afghan Intelligence service. Hundreds of people are dead after a Tropical Storm in the philippines. It swept through the southern part of that country over the weekend. It caused land slides and flash floods, wiping out villages. Rescue efforts are difficult because many bridges and roads have been destroyed and many people are still unaccounted for. A man is charged with attempted murder after shooting two virginia sheriffs deputies responding to a dispute between a father and his daughter. As the deputies tried to arrest the suspect, he grabbed a fun and opened fire. A female deputy was shot in the leg. A male deputy was shot in the arms and both legs. Both are in stable condition and are expected to make a full recovery. A holiday trip ended in tragedy for a family in florida. Five people died when a small plane crashed after taking off in thick fog in the tampa area. 70yearold john shannon was flying his two daughters, soninlaw and a friend. All five died. Lets get a closer look at your Christmas Day forecast. Good morning and Merry Christmas. Snowfall potential throughout the northeast, at least three inches throughout portions of the northeast and up to a foot and a half throughout portions of maine. You combine that with the problem of gusty winds, 35 to 50 Miles Per Hour winds from boston all the way down towards richmond, over towards cleveland as well. Biting chill. Isolated damage and Power Outages in the North Central part of the country. Arctic outbreak with bitter cold and snow in wyoming and ice and slick roads along the west coast. Im Accuweather Meteorologist paul williams. Still ahead, what you need to do to stay healthy through the peak of the flu season. And a frightening scene high up in the frenchal ps. Rescuers taking extreme steps to bring skiers down to safety. A peek inside how the white house got dressed up for the holidays. The first lady helping to create a winter wonderland. Ok, lets try this. It says you apply the blue one to me. Here . No. Have a little fun together, or a lot. Ky yours and mine. Two sensations that work together, so you can play together. Unstop right there im about to pop a cap of mmm fresh in that washer. With unstopables inwash scent boosters by downy. And if you want, pour a little more. Ah, its so fresh. And its going to last from wash to. Wear for up to 12 weeks. Right, freshness for weeks unstopables by downy. For a fresh too feisty to quit. This is charlie. And this is charlie not coughing because he took delsym 12hour. This is charlie not coughing while trying his hardest not to wake zeus. This is charlie not coughing while sitting ververy still. Easy, walter. And this is charlie not coughing while getting a little too into nanas party. Because he took delsym. The 1 12hour cough medicine. Nothing lasts longer for powerful cough relief. Delsym. The joy of not coughing. Last minute shoppers last night and all indications are that santa was pretty good to retailers. Consumers are feeling good about the economy and retail analysts say shoppers spent more than expected on items like kitchen gadgets, toys and even coats. In puerto rico its christmas as the island struggles in the aftermath of hurricane maria. Three months after the devastating storm, at least 30 of the power grid is still not generating electricity. The government saying most will have power restored by the end of february, but some, it could take months longer than that. A medical alert now about whats developing into a pretty harsh flu season. The cdc is already reporting widespread flu activities in 23 states. Once you add the extra Holiday Travel and socializing, even more people are likely to become sick. Heres abcs marci gonzalez. Reporter the flu spreading fast and hitting hard. Now experts say its going to get worse. I went to the doctor and got tested. I felt like i had a sinus infection. Reporter it turns out vince does have the flu, so does his son. Now theyre spending christmas quarantined away from the rest of their family. Its sad that i wont be with the family today. Its the best thing for everybody. Reporter the cdc telling the Washington Post theres a 30 chance the flu peaks next week. Ten states already reporting high flu activity chiefly from one powerful strain of a contagious illness. The influenza virus can exist in the air three to six feet in the air. It can be spread by talking or breathing. Reporter its not just the very young. Old and people with weakened immune systems who are at risk. This 20yearold was killed by complications from the flu last month. Never in a million years would we have thought that we would have lost her that day like this. Reporter a terrifying ordeal for skiers in the french alps. 200 were stranded more than 80 feet in the air after gondolas broke down. Dozens of cars stuck there. Rescuers used helicopters to free the skiers. Everyone was back on the ground after two hours. No word on what caused that malfunction. When we come back, the nfls postseason slots finally filling up. Also a christmas tradition lives on. A secret santa spreading joy and keeping himself mostly anonymous. And mariah carey take two. The diva make her new years eve plans official. I just finished months of chemo. But i dont want to talk about months. I want to talk about years. Treatments have gotten better, so. Im hoping for good years ahead. Thats thanks to Research Funded by the american cancer society. The same folks giving me free rides to treatments, insurance advice, and a place to stay during chemo. I need that stuff like you dont know. And now that you do, please give at cancer. Org. Her hairs a hot mess. Her eyes are like. Oh, im late for work. I have to go. Your dunkin doesnt make you, you, but it helps. Dunkin donuts coffee. Pick some up where you buy groceries. Im and im an emt. Erer when i get a migraine at work, its debilitating. If i call out with a migraine, thats one less ambulance to serve a community. I just dont want to let these people down. Excedrin migraine. Relief that works as hard as you do. Therethat only uses 100 american oranges. And simply orange and tropicana ship in juice from overseas. Only floridas natural grows all of our oranges in florida. Great taste. Naturally. For 100 years, heritage and innovation have made gillette the 1 shave in america. Now get gillette quality at lower prices every day. Brought to you by 1200 workers in boston were proud of giving you our best. Gillette. The best a man can get. The president and first lady attended their first Midnight Mass as the first couple. They went to the West Palm Beach church where they actually tied the knot back in 2005. The homly for the service focused on the power of words and the destructive potential that they can have. Interesting. Hours before the service the president fired off several pointed tweets. He tweeted that people are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. He says, i am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase, Merry Christmas. The tweet served to reinforce one of his Major Campaign goals. Abcs jordan phelps reports from the white house. Reporter as a candidate donald trump pledged to make christmas a white house prior y priority. If i become president were going to be saying Merry Christmas in every store. Reporter now trump sees a promise kept. I told you that we would be saying Merry Christmas again, right . Three, two, one. Reporter the president and first lady have hosted a dizzying flurry of Christmas Events. Approximately 20 formal receptions. More than 100 open houses and 25,000 more people expected to see all this on public tours. The first ladys office says mrs. Trump has overseen every detail. 53 christmas trees, 18,000 feet of twinkle lights. 12,000 ornaments. How much does it all cost . The white house wont say, except that its all in the budget. While the style is mrs. Trumps, aides say some of the decor is recycled from christmases past. Those fresh cut trees bought by the park service from farms in West Virginia and north carolina. As for the food and drink at those lavish receptions, the Republican National committee tells me they foot the bill. The rnc isnt revealing just how much they spent entertaining at the white house this year, but based on Financial Disclosures from previous years, we know the Democratic Party spent an average of 1 million a year entertaining during the Holiday Season during the final years of the obama administration. Jordan phelps, abc news, the white house. Our thanks to jordan. One of the real housewives of new york is now facing criminal charges. Police in palm beach, florida say louann de la excepts kicked an officer after she had been drinking. She says this was the first time she was back in palm beach after her wedding and it brought up some emotions. Mariah carey is ringing in the new year, returning to abcs new years rocking eve with Ryan Seacrest and looking for redemption. Last years performance in times square was panned as, well, a little bit of a hot mess. Im going to say let the audience sing, okay . We didnt have a sound check but its new years, baby. Thats okay, guys. Put these monitors on, please. New years rocking eve with sign seacrest air right here on abc. It starts next sunday at 8 00 p. M. That extended clip that you saw there was the best of that performance. Memorable to say the at least. Now to some football. The chiefs booking their trip to the nfc playoffs. Kansas city rolled up more than 400 yards of offense in a 2913 win against miami. That had coach andy reed in the spirit. What a great year offensively. Were not done yet though, you know, so were not going to sit on this. Were going to move on and enjoy the holiday here and then well get right back at it. Yep, so theyre heading to the playoffs and going into week 17 of the season, there are only three postseason spots left to be claimed. Some of sundays other highlights now from espn. Merry christmas. They had to beat the seahawks yesterday and theyre winning 60 but dez bryant gets the ball punched out. Turnover, not head. Seattle takes the ball and then scores. Thats what happened. The cowboys would give it to seattle and then seattle would go score. Russell wilson to jimmy graham. Again. Dak prescott, he gives it to them and they score right away. His fourth pick six of the year. That leads the nfl for prescott. He had none last year. Justin coleman jumps in the big ball. Rams titans, what a season theyve been having. Todd gurley is mvp. Are you in on that or are you still in the tommy column . I think hes close. Im going to go tommy. 80yard touchdown. Screen pass. Gurley 158 yards receiving, ran for 118. Tons of fantasy points. Rams 2723. They clinch the nfc west title for the First Time Since 2003. Merry christmas. Watch basketball on abc. Up next in the pulse, it is christmas morning. That means people are unwrapping gifts and that also means the rush to return some of those gifts is about to begin. Already under way. Plus the force at work creating some star wars replicas that look good enough to eat. As soon as i became a parent i changed as a person, drastically. I tried hard to quit smoking. But when we brought our daughter home that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Can you say thanks nicoderm cq . Every great why needs a great how. Studying to be a dentist and she gave me advice. She said dad. Go pro with crest prohealth. 4 out of 5 dentists confirm these crest prohealth products. Help maintain a professional clean. And its the only toothpaste with the ada seal of acceptance for protection against acid erosion. Essential for vinyl, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. 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For every 5 lbs you lose, alli® can help you lose two to three more by preventing about 25 of the fat you eat from being absorbed. For the only fdaapproved otc weight loss aid, try alli®. It is time to check the pulse and what to do after youve unwrapped the gifts and youve hidden your disappointment. There is that. So americans return nearly 90 billion worth of gifts. Some say you cant return if the items package has been opened. Others say you can take it back no matter what. Still others are somewhere in between. Then theres regifting. More than half of us admit that weve done it. Gift cards are the most popular items to turn around. There you have it, some tips for tomorrow. A tradition of kindness continuing the kansas capital city. The secret santa made his annual trek through topeka handing out 100 bills. The man wont give his name. He took over from a man named Larry Stewart 11 years ago. As stewart was dying from cancer, he told the current santa that he wish he could have helped more people. A bakery thats mixing star wars with a