a frantic mother scrambling for help. her baby not breathing. and the deputy who happened to know just what to do. good evening. thanks for joining us on this sunday. i'm tom llamas. we begin with the extreme weather targeting much of the country. winter weather alerts in 17 states, from illinois to massachusetts. the plane sliding off the ta taxiway in detroit. i-75 shut down with dozens of vehicles piled up, and this crash sending up a 14-foot wall of flames. more than 175 million people under freezing temperatures this weekend. and there's even colder weather ahead. the forecast in a moment. but first, alex perez, starting us off from snowy chicago tonight. >> reporter: tonight, this delta flight caught in that winter blast. >> and delta 724, we just went into the ground. >> reporter: the plane taking off in buffalo. skidding off the runway after landing in detroit. passengers all safe, but forced to evacuate out of the plane's rear hatch. hundreds of flights cancelled or delayed. nearly 1,500 in chicago alone. as the windy city gets a winter wallop. >> i've never seen it like this in december. >> reporter: roads from minnesota to new york, treacherous. in minneapolis, this car bursting into flames after crashing on slick roads. firefighters racing to put out the inferno. and outside of flint, michigan, that massive 33-car pileup closing a section of i-75 for hours. >> we got hit in each direction. pushing us one way, then to the other way. we were spun around, facing the opposite direction. >> reporter: tonight, authorities begging drivers to stay off the roads. >> we want the public to ask themselves a simple question. is this trip really necessary? >> reporter: this is the second winter wallop for millions in just days. lake effect snow battering the great lakes region. dumping more than three feet of snow in parts of western new york this weekend. and more is on the way right now. all of the snow will make for a nightmare morning commute. and temperatures are about to plunge. tuesday in chicago, it will feel well below zero. tom? >> alex, thank you. and the snow is also falling in new york city. let's go to rob marciano with more. hey, rob >> reporter: hi, tom. the snow reaching all the way to new york and the northeast cities. this is a large but thankfully fast-moving system. but from i-70 north, it's difficult travel. the storm heading into canada, that means the snow should turn into rain tomorrow. but albany northward into north new england, it will be mostly snow. pockets 6 to 10 inches from detroit, new york, and new england. and maybe some ice across a appalachia. and here comes the big cold. tuesday, 20 below across the dakotas, and below freezing windchills in chicago for 24 hours. and the core of the really cold stuff gets into the northeast on friday. tom? >> rob, thank you. let's turn to politics now. members of congress from both parties are calling for an investigation into whether russia tried to influence the american elections. the president-elect has his doubts. meanwhile, mr. trump is standing by rex tillerson, the likely secretary of state nominee. mr. trump has his doubts. tonight, new reporting on who in the trump family may be moving to washington. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump is digging in, blasting a "new york times" report that russia interfered with the election. >> i think the democrats are bringing it up because they lost the election. it's an excuse. i don't believe it. >> reporter: a person with direct knowledge tells us that republicans and democrats were targeted, but only information about democrats was released. trump still questions if russia was involved at all, even after 17 u.s. intelligence agencies con clues colluded -- concluded that the russians did it. tonight, a bipartisan group is calling for an investigation. trump's recent comments are raising serious questions about whether he trusts u.s. intelligence. and trump admits he's not receiving the classified presidential daily briefings. at least not every day. >> i get it when i need it. i don't have to be told -- i'm a smart person. i don't need to be told the same thing every single day for the next eight years. >> reporter: trump's secretary of state will inherit the complex relationship with russia. and tonight, there are concerns about trump's likely pick, rex tillerson, and his deep ties to president putin. >> i've known him since 1999, and i have a very close relationship with him. >> reporter: but trump says that's a plus. >> a great advantage, he knows many of the players. >> reporter: no announcement has been made yet, but today trump tweeted that tillerson is a world-class deal maker. stay tuned. trump also trying to dampen concerns about conflict of interest. trump plans to leave his business in total, but his children will not. >> my executives will run it with my children. it's a big company, a great company. but i'm going to have nothing to do with management. >> and we'll get more details on thursday. mary, we know that melania and barron will move to washington after the school year. and trump indicating one of his other children will also join him there? >> reporter: yes, ivanka and her husband are planning a move. trump says he's looking into what role legally they could play in his administration. ivanka has expressed interest in women's issues, and his son-in-law would like to help with international interests. >> mary, thank you. overseas now, the grim aftermath of a terror attack in istanbul, turkey. two powerful bombs. a camera capturing one of those blasts, detonated outside of a soccer stadium. that was targeting the police. and tonight, a new terror attack targeting women and children at the main christian cathedral in cairo. here's lama hasan. tracking it all from london tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the death toll in the turkish terror attacks climbing to 38. 30 of them police officers. targeted in near simultaneous blasts at a soccer stadium. militants linked to the kurdish rebel group the pkk, claiming responsibility. the government vowing revenge tonight, stepping up the fight against the recent wave of terror attacks in turkey. terror that is spreading. in egypt, an attack on cairo's largest christian church. eyewitnesses say a woman planted more than 26 pounds of explosives hidden in a bag, shattering what was a solemn sunday service. at least 24 killed. most were women and children. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: "the columns were smoldering. people strewn on the floor and on the walls," this man says. "everything was broken." outside, the outrage and anger erupting. protests against terrorism, demanding national unity. egypt's president sisi is declaring three days of mourning, saying a religious war is being waged. vowing to hunt down the attackers. tom? >> lama, thank you. we head to nigeria tonight, a religious celebration ending with at least 160 people dead in a building collapse. the roof crashing down as it celebrated the church's new bishop. workers had rushed to finish the construction. initial reports say the metal girders and the iron roof gave way. back in the states, we're following the road rage trial out of new orleans. closing arguments in the shooting death of former nfl star, will smith. the fate of the defendant, cardell hayes, in the jurors' hands. here's phillip mena. >> reporter: prosecutors calling the road rage shooting an execution. jurors hearing closing arguments in the killing of former new orleans saints star, will smith. cardell hayes, shooting smith eight times. seven in the back. smith's wife, struck by the gunfire, too. >> my leg has been shot! >> reporter: speaking in his own defense, hayes told jurors he opened fire fearing for his own life. claiming smith attacked him and grabbed a gun. "i know for a fact i was going to get shot," hayes said. claiming he heard a gunshot before pulling the trigger. police say a gun found in smith's car was not fired. >> the testimony he gave in his own defense has been contradicted by third-party witnesses and by the forensic evidence. >> reporter: smith, an all-pro and fan favorite. former teammates like drew brees showing support throughout the trial. with closing arguments wrapped up, deliberations are set to begin. hayes faces a possibility of life in prison if he's convicted of second degree murder. tom? >> phillip, thank you. and from georgia tonight, a final farewell to a police officer killed while responding to a domestic pursuit. american's -- america's police officer, honored at a ceremony at georgia state university. he died at the scene. his friend, who had to rush to the scene to back him up, also passing away. and the woman jogger strangled while on a run. investigators hoping to expand the search for the killer with cutting-edge science. here's marci gonzalez. >> reporter: tonight, a new push to solve a young jogger's brutal murder, with a controversial dna search. >> we need to find this predator. >> reporter: these images show the woman shortly before she was strangled near her home in queens, new york. now, more than four months later, the dna found at the scene has turned up no matches in state or national databases. the district attorney asking to authorize familial dna searching. which would look for partial dna matches. >> we have all investigative steps that have been exhausted. and this is the next logical move. >> reporter: it's already done in at least nine states, including california. where police say it led them to the serial killer known as the grim sleeper. 25 years after lonnie franklin's murder spree began, investigators were able to partially link dna to his son, helping investigators hone in on the killer himself. but civil liberty groups call it an invasion of privacy. >> it brings potential family members who may not have been the subject of a crime subject to questioning. it certainly invades on their privacy. >> reporter: the state is now reviewing the d.a.'s request. and tonight, the family tells us, this needs to be done. not just in their case, but for all victims. tom? >> marci, thank you. next to a house fire so intense, it melted the siding off of a nearby home. those flames erupting early this morning in new jersey. tearing through a house with eight sleeping people inside. two of them jumping from a third-floor window to escape just before the home collapsed. the 72-year-old homeowner died in the blaze. and now to the desperate moments for a mother whose baby suddenly stopped breathing, and the chance encounter in that emergency that changed all their lives. here's adrienne bankert. >> reporter: tonight, a frightening lesson on the importance of cpr, playing out in a florida dmv. shakira nelson's 15-month-old son, not breathing. >> at that moment i was in panic mode. >> reporter: surveillance video shows hillsborough county sheriff's deputy steve donaldson leaping into action. you can see him listening to the baby's chest. >> i never realized how small babies were until until they are in your arms. >> reporter: donaldson laying the toddler on the ground, administering compressions. in those critical moments before the ambulance could arrive, corey started to breathe again. >> i said a little prayer, and i said, god, give me strength to save this baby. >> reporter: thankfully, deputy donaldson had just retrained in cpr three weeks ago. cpr saves more than 92,000 individuals annually. but amazingly, only about 3.5% of americans train in the technique each year. the hero, reunited with corey and his grateful mom. >> i look at the video and i say thank god for deputy donaldson, because without him, my baby wouldn't be here. >> reporter: tom, this was a clear case of right place, right time. deputy donaldson wasn't even scheduled to work that day. he was filling in for another officer. it's certainly a shift that he and this family will never forget. >> adrienne, thank you. and there's much more still ahead on "world news tonight" this sunday. the giant tree suddenly slamming down onto a major highway. crushing a car. so, how can anyone survive this? plus, gps taking an unsuspecting family on a treacherous and harrowing ride. you have to see this story. and, why all the excitement for this student and his entire school? their big moment, all caught on camera. stay with us. my friends think doing this at my age is scary. i say not if you protect yourself. what is scary? pneumococcal pneumonia. it's a serious disease. my doctor said the risk is greater now that i'm over 50! yeah...ya-ha... just one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia- an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. prevnar 13® is approved for adults 18 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. if you have a weakened immune system, you may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects were pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, less appetite, vomiting, fever, chills, and rash. get this one done! ask about prevnar 13® at your next visit to your doctor's office or pharmacy. in einstein since he started the new beneful recipe. the number one ingredient in it is beef. 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[ cheers and applause ] and that's his mom he's hugging. >> as soon as i turned to her, she couldn't say anything. she was crying because she was waiting for that moment. >> reporter: and the really nice thing? look at everybody else. hugging, as if they all got accepted. congrats, winston. to your mom. and to your school family, too. john donvan, abc news. >> congrats to winston is right. "gma" first thing tomorrow morning. david muir will be right back here tomorrow night. i'm tom llamas in new york. have a great evening. good night. my guest list just tripled. my cookie exchange is super competitive. mine too. i want to go really big with my appetizers. we can do it without blowing our budget. oh yeah, this is great! my family really needs to be wowed this year! standing rib roast! wow. everything for the holidays. that's my giant. ribeiro: here's a sneak peek at tonight's "afv." we know you're gonna love it. -oh, my! -olivia, time to get up! olivia! [ screams ] woman: these are riker's 2015 christmas cookies. -[ sneezes ] -oh, yuck! [ cheers and applause ] welcome to "america's funniest home videos." and now, here he is, the host of our show, alfonso ribeiro! [ cheers and applause ] hey! hello! hello.