This change of heart coming after swift backlash online from celebrities and lgbtq advocacy groups. Were now getting our first look at some of the video in the patriots latest scandal. The man who shot the video of another team says he never intended to give it to the patriots football staff. He has been suspended by the team. Those are some of our top stories this monday, december 16th. Good morning, everyone. Great to have darla in for janai, coming from wabc, looking good. She sent me the nicest note, thank you, janai. She doesnt do anything nice for me. We all know why. We love you, kenneth. Its great to have darla here again from our flagship station, wabc. Lets begin this half hour with the controversy in the stands of the army navy game. Cadets and midshipmen flashing hand signals on live tv that could be associated with white power. Several students from west point and the Naval Academy are now at the center of an investigation over the gesture recently labeled as a hate symbol by the antidefamation league. Abcs trevor ault has more. Reporter the west Point Military academy launching an investigation after cadets at saturdays Army Navy Football game in philadelphia flashed this hand gesture sometimes associated with hate groups. Watch closely. You ask anybody thats ever had to deal with reporter while an espn broadcaster reports during a pregame live shot, at least four cadets put up the symbol. One of them even sliding into the camera shot to make his hand gesture and face visible. Another making the gesture directly behind a minority cadet. The u. S. Naval academy saying, based on findings of the investigation, those involved will be held appropriately accountable. It would be inappropriate to speculate any further while we are conducting this investigation. The hand gesture looks like the okay sign. While the symbol can have other innocent meanings, its been adopted by the White Nationalist community after the christchurch mosque shootings in new zealand earlier this year when, according to the antidefamation league, it began to signify white power. We should never make assumptions about why people are using it. It has gone to a much darker and i think more dangerous place. Reporter the names of these cadets have not been released and none of them have commented so far, meaning the intention behind these gestures is still not clear. Trevor ault, abc news, new york. Turning now to capitol hill where the stage is set to impeach President Trump before the week is over. Senate democrats are looking ahead to the upcoming trial asking for key witnesses to testify as the president rails against impeachment. A House Democrat may be switching sides. Abcs brad mielke has the latest. Hey, thats right. As of right now the date to circle on your calendar is this wednesday. That is the earliest potential house Impeachment Vote might go down. You would think President Trump would be dreading that, right . Some democrats might be dreading it too. Assuming no republicans cross over, and so far none appear to, democrats appear to be able to lose up to 17 votes and still win a majority. But theres a lot of pressure on those in trump districts, so much so that democrats might see more than half a dozen defections. Over the weekend we learned democrat Jeff Van Drew, who has spoken out in the past against impeachment, might even switch parties over this. I talked to abcs political director rick klein. He says that does not shake up the math but it could shake confidence. This is a democratic member, freshman democrat from new jersey, who frankly is worried about a primary challenge because he might vote against impeachment, and he is widely expected to go and become a republican. Its no small irony if the only Party Casualty out of this is a democrat that becomes a republican. The whole political argument for impeachment, in addition to all policy reasons to do it, is this would put pressure on republicans to try to defend what democrats said was indefensible. Now as we stand close to a very likely impeachment, to have a party switch go d to r is really striking. Meanwhile, those in the senate are starting to get their game plans together for a potential trial. Remember how republicans in the house wanted to call hunter biden to testify . Minority leader Chuck Schumer says hes got some witnesses he would like to call, including Mick Mulvaney and john bolton, two key officials who were actually blocked from testifying bit white house. Well see how this shakes out. Well have a lot more on start here later this morning. Listen on apple podcasts or your favorite podcasting app. Kenneth, darla . All right, brad, thank you. A u. S. Military statement from afghanistan says no orders have been received about reducing troop levels there. However, the Trump Administration is reportedly getting ready to announce a drawdown of thousands of americans. Theres no word on when any u. S. Withdrawal would begin. Currently there are between 12,000 and 13,000 u. S. Troops in afghanistan. Any reduction in American Force levels would likely take months to accomplish. Following the deadly shootings at the Naval Air Station in pensacola, florida, the navy is under pressure to increase security. Dozens of navy pilots have reportedly written a letter demanding they be allowed to carry guns while they are on base. The attack is being treated as terrorism and the fbi is seeking the saudi gunmans motive. Three people were killed in that attack. Overnight, weve been keeping an eye on a severe snowstorm moving towards the east coast. The strongest part of the snowstorm, the storm system, is in ohio now, but you can see that its entering pennsylvania and west virginia, and it isnt done with missouri yet. An icy mix is expected this morning. Thats after yesterdays snowfall there shut down major highways and caused hundreds of accidents. Lets check in with accuweathers adam del rosso for more. Good morning, adam. Darla, kenneth, good morning. A complex winter storm making its way into the midatlantic bringing snow and ice to areas just north of d. C. , making for a tricky morning commute. Also another swath of snow across Southern Illinois into Central Indiana where we saw plenty of snow yesterday. Were talking some areas seeing 6 to 12 inches through central illinois. A swath of 3 to 6 inches of snow into Northern New England as we make our way into tomorrow. On the south side of the snow, perhaps some severe storms with damaging winds being the main threat across the Mississippi River valley. Kenneth, darla . All right, adam, thank you. Southern californias inland empire is mourning a search and rescue worker who died during a search. High School Teacher timothy staples became separated from his partner and fell down an ice chute on mt. Baldy. He also served as his schools track coach and had just married another teacher there six months ago. Meanwhile the missing hiker still has not been found. A mall near atlanta will be open today following a wild scene over the weekend. It included gunfire that wounded one person and two teenagers are now under arrest. Abcs Zachary Kiesch has the details. Reporter two teenagers arrested after a terrifying mall shooting that sent Holiday Shoppers running for their lives. Everybodys running outside, theyre advising the shootings happening downstairs. Reporter dramatic video highlights the level of chaos and confusion saturday at the Cumberland Mall near atlanta. Im thanking god im still alive. Reporter watch as parents fearing the worst shield children, some tossing chairs and dropping shopping bags in a rush for cover. There was a lady with her children, she was in fear, pandemonium, she didnt know what was going on. There was an elderly woman on the floor. Reporter officers carrying assault rifles swarmed the scene searching for the gunman. Police say an argument between a group of men in the food court escalated, leaving one shot. Police have arrested 18yearold denulo, charging him with aggravated assault, and 19yearold ponz, charging him with reckless conduct and carrying a concealed weapon. Luckily it was not an active shooter incident, but it did have a high response out of abundance of caution due to the area shoppers. Reporter police are calling this an isolated incident and saying the victim is recovering from nonlifethreatening injuries. That mall has reopened. Zachary kiesch, abc news, new york. Thank you, zachary. Now to College Football. The top team in the land officially has the top player in the land leading it into the playoffs. Lsu quarterback joe burrow took the Heisman Trophy in a record vote this weekend. He is the first tiger to win the award in 60 years. Burrow set a record for the conference with 48 touchdown passes this year. He won the heisman with the largest voting margin ever in history. Thats not bad for a guy who barely played when he was at ohio state just a year ago. All my teammates have supported me, welcomed me with open arms, a kid from ohio coming down to the bayou and welcomed me as brothers. And its been so awesome. Lsu meets oklahoma in a College Football playoff semifinal next week. If the tigers win, burrow could face his old school, ohio state, for that championship. And that would also be a good matchup. In other football news, on saturday, newtown, connecticut, marked seven years since the sandy hook massacre left 26 people dead, including 20 children. Saturday night, Newtown High School played for the states football title, and with 3 seconds left in the game, jack street launches a pass toward the end zone, and riley hauls it in. Newtown wins the game 137 and takes the first state title it has had in 27 years. Completing a perfect season, all 13 newtown points came in the last seven minutes of the fourth quarter. We know that town has been through so much. And that really is an understatement. When you think about right on the anniversary it just gave me chills when i saw this story on friday. I was in newtown covering the shootings, the aftermath of that as well. Anything that can make that Community Smile is always very welcome. As you know, a strong community. Theyre very strong, theyre very solid, absolutely. Coming up, the christmas surprise for two special women. Plus is facebook tracking your movements at the mall . This takes tracking to a whole new level, kenneth. You guys are going to want to see this. Yes, definitely. Disturbing moments at a school, an officer slamming a student to the ground. Want to freshen your home without using heavy, overwhelming scents . Try febreze one; it eliminates odors with no heavy perfumes, so you can feel good about using it in your home. For a light, naturalsmelling freshness, try febreze one. Work so hard give it everything you got strength of a lioness tough as a knot rocking the stage and we never gonna stop all strength, no sweat. Just in case you forgot all strength. No sweat secret. All strength. No sweat. Australian fire officials are warning residents west of sydney, its too late to evacuate as a major brush fire approaches. Instead theyre advised to seek shelter. 20 properties were destroyed by a backfire that was set to control a bigger fire. The Weather Forecast is calling for quote severe to extreme heat wave conditions this week. A desperate search is under way in texas for a mother who vanished with her 2weekold baby girl. 33yearold Heidi Broussard had her infant daughter with her thursday morning when she was last seen dropping off her son at Elementary School in austin. But she never picked him up. Police believe broussard and the baby returned home before they disappeared. Her fiance is pleading for their safe return. She would never disappear. She is an amazing mom. She would never we have a 6yearold son, beautiful kid. She would never leave him. I just want her home safe. Ill be here. Just drop her off somewhere safe. Shane kerry there said there was nothing missing from their home and there were no signs of a struggle. A School Resource officer in North Carolina could face charges stemming from a violent incident that was caught on a security camera. The officer seen manhandling a student in a hallway, hes now on paid leave while authorities investigate. Abcs Marci Gonzalez reports. Reporter this disturbing Surveillance Video of a School Resource officer body slamming a middle School Student in North Carolina is at the center of an investigation. Real horrible. Its terrible. Reporter here you see the deputy throw the child to the ground, pick him up, and do it again before dragging the boy down the hallway. First saw the video, stunned, we were shocked. I dont expect my deputy, any deputy of Law Enforcement in North Carolina to carry out their duties in that way. Reporter the sheriff says the deputy still hasnt explained what prompted the violence and is now on paid leave while state authorities investigate. The Vance School District telling abc news, we are deeply concerned by the actions that took place. School and district officials are working closely and in full cooperation with the local authorities. And this is just a stunning kind of incident. I dont see any justification at this point for that officers behavior and actions. Reporter the boys family tells reporters hes recovering at home. The District Attorney says theyre taking into account the childs age and injuries as they determine whether that officer will be criminally charged. Marci gonzalez, abc news, los angeles. Thank you, marci. That video is disturbing to say the least. I mean, the child, he or she is under the age of 12, and he tosses her like a rag doll. I mean, it just looks like a toy, doesnt even look like a real child, the force with which this officer used. It shows you how tiny this child, the student is. It appears the sheriff and prosecutor quick to come out with response on this one. Again, its all under investigation. Coming up, how facebook learns what you buy even at the mall. Plus what you can do about it, thats next. Did you know that every single flush flings odors onto your soft surfaces . Then they get released back into the air so you smell them later ew. Right . Thats why febreze created new small spaces. Press firmly and watch it get to work. Unlike the leading cone, small spaces continuously eliminates odors in the air and on surfacesso they dont come back for 45 days. Now thats one flushin fresh bathroom. Breathe happy febreze. La la la la la. That is the beautiful light show at saks on fifth avenue here in new york city. Most of us already know that our Online Shopping is tracked. Exactly. But heres something very scary, right . Big brother is also literally watching what you do while you are inside of a store. Abcs becky worley has the story. Reporter if youre hitting the mall to holiday shop, facebook may be tracking your purchases. Reports that the social media platform, with help from retail partners, is monitoring what users are buying. Not just online, but in brick and Mortar Stores too. It lets businesses send in information about what you purchased. Reporter according to business insider, retailers are teaming up with the social media giant, offering facebook personal information in order to create targeted ads. Retail companies sending names, phone numbers, email addresses, and more, along with what products people purchase. Facebook then using this information to identify the user in its database to target them with that business ads. The main way that facebook makes money is by selling ads. And the reason that its able to really dominate the online ad industry is because it controls so much personal information and data about its users. Reporter facebook confirming the practice saying retailers are able to reach their customers with ads on facebook by sharing offline events like an instore purchase, saying this is standard for the industry. When asked stores like macys praised the collaboration as a way to fuel our growth. But Facebook Says you can limit how much of your information is shared with them. Go to privacy settings, from there you can customize what kind of ads youre shown and how your spending activity is tracked when you shop at a physical store. Facebook does say that theres a way to find out why youre seeing the ads youre seeing. In each ad you can click on the dropdown menu and it says, why am i seeing this ad . Facebook also says they want to give their users control to change their advertising settings. Guys . All right, becky worley with some good information. I just need to know, how are they getting in my head . And the fact i even think about it, it shows up on instagram, it shows up on facebook. Well, it has to be freaky if youre in macys, wait a minute, theres a macys ad. That has happened to me. Really . Oh, it has happened to me. I go into macys for all of my skin care products. You have to be there and get that taken care of. You do. Have fun shopping. Theyre going to be in your mind in your heads. Fun shopping. 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