Who will be getting a wet or White Christmas . Stephanie new overnight, paramedics convicted. The two men found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Elijah Mcclain for injecting him with what prosecutors said was a fatal dose of ketamine. The Emotional Message from his mother. Will monster wave. The cruise ship with nearly 400 people on board slammed by a wall of water knocking out its navigation system. Passengers donning life vests. The state of the ship this morning. Gio Holiday Health check, respiratory illnesses on the rise across much of the country. Who needs a flu shot more than ever, and what we know about the latest covid19 variant. Come on, baby, just pump it, louder stephanie and playoff push. The teams hoping to keep their postseason dreams alive from the vikings to the cowboys. Espns Louis Riddick previews week 16s highstakes matchups. Gio and we do say, good morning, america, on this saturday. Whit has the morning off. But happy to have Stephanie Ramos here. Will reeve is here. Christmas eveeve. Are you ready for it . Stephanie im so ready and im so happy to spend it with you guys. Itll be a great weekend. Gio absolutely. We have a lot to cover including the blow to special counsel jack smith delivered by the Supreme Court and what it could mean for the election interference case against former president donald trump. Stephanie plus, weve got the story of this incredible rescue of a man trapped in a hole along the side of a cliff for days. And its also Super Saturday. Gma helping you to find fresh ideas along with some big bargains for those lastminute gifts. Will we begin with the Holiday Travel crush. We have Team Coverage from l. A. To d. C. The tsa is bracing for another busy day after screening a huge number of travelers on friday. Gio and tens of millions are hitting the roads too, but lets start at those busy airports. Abcs jaclyn lee is at l. A. X. With that. Good morning, jaclyn. Reporter hey, gio. Good morning to you. Yes, the crowds are showing up here at l. A. X. You can see them waiting to check their bags, get their tickets, and then they are migrating over to tsa where the lines are certainly moving. Now, this is expected to be the busiest travel season ever for airport travel with 7. 5 million passengers. This is breaking records, guys. I mean, these numbers not seen since before the pandemic in 2019. Aaa tells us more travelers than ever are flying since the pandemic hit, because these people are now more comfortable. Tsa screening more than 2. 76 million passengers on friday with those numbers expected to jump as we get closer to christmas. Now, if you remember last year, more than 2 Million People got caught up in the wave of delays and cancellations with Southwest Airlines overall working on improving their operations, so traffic nightmares like that do not happen again. The biggest advice we are hearing is you want to get to the airport two hours before your flight. Its going to be very crowded. Here at l. A. X. , aaa is recommending you actually reserve your parking spot ahead of time, so youre not wasting time trying to find parking when you should be going after your flight. Guys. Gio ive been to a lot of airports this week, jaclyn, and i can tell you, they are busy. Thank you so much. Lets go to the roads now, because thats exactly where you find the majority of Holiday Travelers. Expect lots of traffic today. Abcs ike ejiochi joins us from washington, d. C. With a look at the best times to avoid that gridlock. Good morning, ike. Reporter good morning, gio. Right behind me is 395, and today, like so many other big cities, this road will be packed full of drivers making their annual holiday highway hike to spend time with their families. And theyre not alone. Aaa says a majority of travelers, nearly 104 Million People, will drive to their holiday destinations this year. Thats the second highest projected number on record after 108 Million People hit the roads for the holidays back in 2019. There will be several days of potentially bad traffic during the tenday holiday period. Today and thursday, the 28th, will be the most congested days on the road. People should also expect an increase of traffic next saturday, december 30th. Now, across the board, the best times to hit the road will be before lunchtime or after 7 00 p. M. , but for today you should really try to get going before 10 00 a. M. Right after you finish watching gma, of course. Now, heres a final tip. If youre willing to travel live closer to the holidays themselves, youll have the smoothest ride. Christmas eve, Christmas Day, new years eve and new years day are all expected to have a small impact on traffic patterns. Stephanie . Stephanie sounds good, ike. Some of the road travel might be affected by weather. A crosscountry storm is making travel difficult in some parts. Somara has a look at who will see snow for christmas and who might be bracing for flooding. Good morning, somara. Somara good morning, thats right. A lot going on across the middle portion of the country. On the east coast things look fine. If youre hitting the road before 10 00 a. M. , you might not be contending with traffic, but with fog from dallas to chicago, dense fog this morning. This has actually led to the National Weather service giving advisories from minneapolis to green bay down to oklahoma and dallas. Now, when you get to a quarter of a mile, thats that critical visibility there, so keep that in mind this morning through at least 11 00 a. M. As far as a crosscountry storm, by 7 00 a. M. Tomorrow from kansas city to little rock, houston seeing some rain and heavy rain hitting the southeast by tomorrow morning, biggest chance for flooding in houston today. Tomorrow new orleans. By monday, tallahassee. Thats a look at your forecast. Will, back to you. Will all right, somara. Thank you. Stay alert around the weather as you make your Holiday Travel plans. Were going to turn now to the tightened security measures ahead of traditional holiday celebrations, including the times square ball drop here in new york city. Abcs Morgan Norwood is here with those details. Morgan, good morning. Reporter will, good morning. Thats right. Every year more than 1 Million People pack into times square to watch the ball drop, and this morning were learning federal authorities are ramping up security. They are on alert for violence and extremism amid the israelhamas war. Now, to be clear, there have been no credible or specific threats, but according to a threat assessment by abc news, new years eve in times square is attractive for domestic terrorists, extremists and lone offenders due to large crowds and media coverage. Now, that document also points out how for the past several years, extremists have almost exclusively attacked Law Enforcement or u. S. Military targets, and its something that weve even seen before. Remember that machete attack from last year new years eve when police say Trevor Bickford assaulted three officers in the name of radical islamic jihad. He has pleaded not guilty, but Law Enforcement say that theyve been grappling with the most challenging threat environment due to the war. 100 fullscale investigations tied to that middle east conflict. Gio if you see something, say something. Now to that major blow to the special counsel in Donald Trumps federal election interference case and trumps claim of immunity. The Supreme Court refusing to fasttrack the case, and abcs jay obrien joins us from washington. Jay, what does this all mean . Reporter yeah, gio, good morning. Move this was a legal win for former president trump, and it could push back the start date of that federal criminal trial over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Supreme Court denying a request from special counsel jack smith to expedite a ruling on whether the former president can claim whats called president ial immunity in the face of those federal charges over his actions in the leadup to and during the january 6th capitol attack. President ial immunity is a legal concept that says a sitting president is immune in both civil and criminal cases, but trump was charged, not as a current president , but as a former president. Because the Supreme Court denied that request from the special counsel, it means this question on if president ial immunity applies here will now have to first go to a federal appeals court, and it also means that trumps election interference trial, which was slated to begin right here in d. C. On march 4th will likely be delayed. That trial was already going to come right in the middle of the gop president ial primary calendar. On top of trumps three other ongoing criminal cases. The former president this morning is fundraising for his reelection bid off of that Supreme Court decision, accusing the special counsel of trying to interfere in the upcoming election. Stephanie . Stephanie will president ial immunity extend to the criminal justice system, that is the question. We shall see. Thanks so much, jay. Now, to the verdict overnight in the death of Elijah Mcclain. Two paramedics found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Abcs zohreen shah is in los angeles with reaction to the verdict. Good morning, zohreen. Reporter good morning, steph. These two paramedics were found guilty and face up to 16 years in jail. Now, this was a death that rocked the nation, and it reopened the debate about race and police reform. This morning, a guilty verdict for the two paramedics charged in Elijah Mcclains death. Both Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Cichuniec found guilty of Second Degree assault. The jury finding cichuniec unlawfully ordered an excessive dose of ketamine, a powerful sedative. All of this as officers held the 23yearold down in an aurora, colorado, suburb walking home from a Convenience Store four years ago. My job is to stand up for whats right. Reporter his mother, sheneen mcclain, instagraming this emotional video ahead of the verdict. What happened to my son that night was not about common sense, yall. It was not about protocols. It was not about training. Reporter one of the paramedics saying this about the moments after police placed mcclain in a chokehold. They said they had to use ketamine, because he appeared to exhibit signs of excited delirium. This was more excited delirium than just an aggressive patient. Ketamine is the one drug of choice we can use to help that. Reporter prosecutors firing back, making the case that ketamine was not necessary. He was gasping and gurgling, he was pleading for help. A visual assessment was not enough. Reporter loved ones remembering mcclain as a gentle soul, who played the violin. Police had received a report about someone sketchy when they stopped him, but the prosecution said he was just walking home. I have the right stop. Stop. I have a right to stop you because youre being suspicious. Reporter mcclains mother said he wore a ski mask because his anemia made him feel cold. What this verdict really says to the general society, each person has to take accountability and be responsible for what their role is and how they interact with the individual that is subject to the search, the stop, or the seizure. Reporter and you saw those Police Officers in the video with mcclain. Well, one of those officers was found guilty in this case. He lost his job, and the other one was acquitted. He returned to work with 200,000 in back pay. As for those paramedics, a sentencing date has been set for march 1st. Will . Will zohreen, thank you. Now to the latest on that cruise ship slammed by a rogue wave in the north sea. New video showing what it was like for passengers aboard that ship that temporarily lost power and the ability to navigate. Abcs ines de la cuetara is in london with those details. Ines, good morning. Reporter good morning, will, and, danish officials saying the ms maud, a norwegian cruise ship was hit by a large wave during a storm that shattered its windows, allowing water to enter and causing a temporary loss of power. The ship was sailing from norway to england with 266 passengers and 131 crew members on board. Video shows some passengers wearing life vests, but everyone is okay. Cruise company hx telling us in a statement, the ship has confirmed all crew and guests are safe and well. The condition of the ship remains stable, and the crew are able to sail under their own power. Now, we understand the ships main engine is functioning but the Navigation Systems and radar are not according to joint arctic command, so the 6 ship has amended its planned sailing route. Its now being assisted by support vessels and is now nearing germany where passengers will disembark. Gio. Gio such a scary situation, ines, thank you so much. With the holidays almost upon us, respiratory illnesses, oh, they are spreading nationwide. 23 states, plus new york city and washington, d. C. , they are seeing very high or high levels of illness, and abcs medical correspondent, dr. Darien sutton, is here to tell us whats behind all of those numbers. Dr. Sutton, break this all down. What does this mean . Good morning, gio, so in the past month weve seen a significant increase, as you said. Many people feeling as though everyone has a cold and numbers display that. Weve seen a 200 increase in influenza raising in 44 states, a 60 increase of rsv and children under 4 the most at risk and a 50 increase in the cases of covid. People over the age of 65 representing the most risk in terms of hospitalization and death. The reasons why, as we discussed before, very similar, often during the winter were moving indoors. Were close in proximity to each other. That increases transmission and then, of course, leads to infection. Gio so, keeping up to date with your vaccinations, obviously thats a very important to keep safe, but for pregnant women, you are especially concerned about pregnant women here. Absolutely. The numbers of pregnant women participating in vaccinations has decreased since last year. Weve seen a 10 to 15 decrease, and, gio, were not just talking about preventing a runny nose. Flu during pregnancy increases the risk of preterm labor and miscarriage, and so its vital and important that pregnant women get excuse me, pregnant women get vaccinated, and in a recent study we can see there are benefits to their infants. For pregnant women who get vaccinated, specifically those who get vaccinated later in their pregnancy, weve seen a reduction in the risk of hospitalization and death of newborn infants. For those under the age of 6 months, that reduction is 33 , and for those under the age of 3 months, that reduction is as much as 50 ,so its vital to get vaccinated to protect you and your unborn child. Gio so important. Before we let you go, i know youre tracking this new covid19 variant called jn1. What do we know so far . Its a family it belongs to the family of the omicron variant, and the reason its defined as a variant of interest is the type of mutation provides the opportunity for increased transmissibility and risk, but thankfully the overall risks were seeing and rates of hospitalization are relatively low, but likely due to the increased rates of transmission. Just to give you some perspective, in november, this represented about 3 of total covid cases and up recently in the northeastern region, its up more than 30 . That significant increase should be something concerning, but it doesnt seem to evade the methods we have here and know to be true for protection in terms of masking. Up to date on vaccines and simply making sure that you are minding your risk. Gio absolutely, all right. Dr. Darien sutton, thank you so much. Well see you again in our second hour. Stephanie thanks, gio. The Commerce Department giving americans an early christmas present. A new report released on friday shows that inflation is slowing down, thanks to falling prices, and a resilient job market. This has left people with more disposable income giving the economy a boost. The news is also boosting hopes of an Interest Rate cut from the federal reserve. That could come as soon as march, so a little bit of a boost around springtime. Lets check in with somara now with weather, and, somara, its not looking very springy out there. Somara no, not at all. Its looking really foggy for our friends in the twin cities this morning. Take a look, minnesota. Youre also unseasonably mild. We had a record back in 1957 of 46. You can blow that out of the water on Christmas Eve at 55 degrees. Look how mild it is. Santa will not need his big north pole winter coat, kiddos. He will have a lot of fun traveling to the east coast until he runs into the rain. So, we are anticipating a threat for flooding down along the gulf coast. They could see anywhere from three to five inches locally high amounts there. And if you look back west into parts of the rockies and then up into nebraska and south dakota, we could get snow anywhere from 6 to 12 inches. Thats a look at your forecast. Lets see whats going on a somara we are not getting a somara we are not getting a White Christmas here in the northeast. Gio aw. Maybe a little warmish, maybe . Somara ill take that. Honestly, i would prefer putting lights on a palm tree, you know. Gio all right. Youre ready for miami. Stephanie will may be doing that pretty soon. Will yeah, maybe. Somara, thank you. We have a very busy football weekend ahead. Only a few weeks remain in this nfl season. Teams are making their push to the playoffs. So, joining us now to help us make sense of it all and get ready for week 16 is espn anal