Avalanche caught on camera. The couple hiking forced to flee as it comes down. How they scrambled to safety. And its gmas new years rocking morning. And counting down to 2015 with the dynamic duo, Ryan Seacrest and Jenny Mccarthy with everything you need to know to ring in the new year. Plus, taylor swift. Good morning, america. Great crowd out in times square this morning. We like to call this the calm before the crazy. Pretty crazy right now. Yes, it does. And 1 Million People expected right outside our studios tonight to ring in the new year. And this is the year from the famous ball. There it is. Just hours away from dropping. And ginger will be up there later as we count down to 2015. I went up there yesterday. Its cold. Its cold. I can imagine. Its not going to get better tonight. The forecast is coming up. They are celebrating the new year down under, striking midnight in new zealand. A big happy new year to those folks. Beautiful. But not so pretty the arctic blast, snow, ice, dangerous cold putting a damper on some celebrations. Ginger is tracking it all for us. Look at that. The picture from california just north of santa barbara. Snowing in Southern California. Add that plus the wind. And big wind gusts that do this damage in Southern California. This tree is ripped from the ground. Those wind advisories are in place throughout california. But also winter storm watches from texas to oklahoma. Just a wreck on the roads this morning. Overnight, more than 130 people trapped on a california highway. Once we hit it, we started sliding down. All these cars were all coming down. Reporter at least a half foot of snow. Winds gusting to 50 Miles Per Hour. Conditions so harsh that san ber nan deknow Fire Fighters using snow cats for the rescue. And in the sierra a tree knocked over killing two. One tree after another. Reporter winds near san francisco, gusting to 50 Miles Per Hour toppling trees on train tracks, halting the commute. And nearby napa and this parked pickup truck, pushed right down the street. In Battle Ground washington a father and his 9yearold son digging out of the snow after getting stuck for more than 24 hour on a hunting trip. In Salt Lake City snow and ice causing major accidents. This car slamming into a tractor trailer carrying 8,000 gallons of crude oil. They started sliding sideways. Reporter cars overturned winds snapping power lines. Icy roads leading to 100 crashes in lubbock, texas. And this deep freeze stopping this dam in chip what falls, wisconsin. And the Fire Fighters working overnight. All the people trapped have been rescued. Not a big double thumbs were further windchill. From utah there in nevada parts of oklahoma and texas. Back through kansas up through wisconsin. Look at the numbers. 42 below. The feels like in jackson this morning. Yes, thats moving east. And at midnight stop it here. We have been showing you every day. Temperatures havent warmed. Going to feel like the teens in new york. Northern plains big zero. Those numbers look like my math scores from high school. Terrible. Depressing. We just got into tv. Yes. This is the answer everybody. Thank you ginger. By the way, not everyone is planning on celebrating on this new years eve. There are protests across america, people hitting the streets to demonstrate against police brutality. Reporter good morning, dan. Thousands of protesters are expected to gather alongside 1 million revelers here in times square. One of the groups organizing the demonstration says that the protests we have seen around the country must escalate in 2015. Thats why tonight is so important and symbolic for them. The nypd is ensuring everyone that security will be stepped up. This morning cities across the country preparing for a night of celebration. And in some cities protests as well. Activist groups in major cities like l. A. Chicago, new york and others organizing a series of new years eve antipolice demonstrations. Protesting Police Involvement in the deaths of eric garner and michael brown. The nypd says they are on high alert, deploying additional officers around new york city on one of its most crowded nights of the year. This after two nypd officers were ambushed in their patrol car and shot and killed earlier this month. There is a heightened sense of security during this detail. As we turn the Police Officers out, we remind them they have to look out for each other. And Work Together and make sure we all stay safe. Reporter one protest group even setting up this Facebook Page asking people in times square and other areas around the city to quote, rock in the new year with resistance to police murder. Encouraging them to chant we cant breathe and black lives matter. In boston the city says it will accommodate activists planning a diein demonstration during the citys traditional first night celebration. An event that draws thousands of families and small children. Were asking the protesters in boston to do it in a respectful manner to allow people to enjoy first night. Reporter Bostons Police commissioner asked protesters to reconsider calling it an inappropriate venue. But in boston as well as in new yorks times square the protests are expected to be overshadowed by the tens of thousands who come to celebrate. Thanks so much. And now to the latest in the airasia flight 8501 disaster. The recovery effort is being slowed by bad weather. Terry moran is there with the very latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning, amy. As night falls in this part of the world. This is a massive recovery operation. Bringing home the dead is the first priority. Seven have been recovered. While here at the airport in surabaya air asia, the airline is taking dna evidence from the families to help in the identification process. Today the first coffins carrying victims of flight 8501 arriving here where their journey started last saturday. While at this staging area near the crash site earlier, a body is carried across the tarmac to a local hospital where all the victims will be identified. It is pain staking work in several locations. This young woman was on the airasia plan and this will help you identify. Yes. Reporter at this Crisis Center we saw how workers are busy matching fingerprints and biometric data with public records. All part of the effort to help identify the bodies being brought in from the sea. Searching will be ongoing for all those in the vicinity. Reporter among the vessels, the uss sampson with hightech sonar equipment that could scan for wreckage. Its a good starting point to say we see an abnormality and then do further investigation from there. Reporter the search goes on for the sampson and the other vessels and planes. Heavy weather has been a major problem and will be in succeeding days. And this is now a race against time. Heavy weather and the currents can disperse and degrade those bodies. And still no sign of those black boxes. A race against time. And the latest into the investigation on what caused the crash. The debris thats been found has been providing important clues. And david kerley is covering that angle. Good morning. Reporter good morning, dan. Only part of the mystery is being solved, the answers of why it crashed is locked in the black boxes. In the debris field all the debris that is being recovered right now. Some of the latest airasia 8501 debris. This evacuation slide raft pulled ton a navy vessel. They believe it selfinflated after the crash. Some of the bodies not wearing life vests, unclothed. Which could suggest the aircraft broke apart high in the sky. The victims will yield clues, burn marks . Did it tear apart . But the real answers are in the black boxes, and the debris can act as an arrow. Its been moving and spread by currents. Experts will track back the currents and put listening devices similar to this in the water. They will be like mowing the lawn listening for the black boxes and the ticking pingers. The signals from different angles should allow them to pinpoint the boxes. The chips will reveal what the pilots were doing and saying. What happened to the jet liner . Indonesia now joining malaysia touched by aviation disaster. We will continue to increase and uplift the aviation standards and Safety Standards in the world. Reporter now indonesia has not named a partner. Its possible when found, those black boxes could go to australia. But finding wreckage is first to get us to the black boxes. And the u. S. Navy ship there has powerful sonar and listening devices and could be critical in the puzzle. Thanks so much. And bring in colonel Steven Ganyard in washington, d. C. Theres so much going on the at site of the crash. What is the priority for the crews on the ground right now . Amy, theyre having to balance the the recovery of remains and taking care of the loved ones with looking for the wreckage itself. We have debris and bodies on the surface of the ocean, pushed around for days now. But we need to find the wreckage of the aircraft on the bottom of the ocean with the black boxes in it. Theyre balancing two priorities. The clues possibly point to a midair catastrophe. How rare would it be that turbulence would bring down a plane like this . Extremely rare. I think in this Holiday Season when people are traveling with their families, theyre concerned. Did it come down by turbulence . Turbulence last brought down an airliner in 1966. Its been almost 50 years. We are two generations of airplanes beyond that better designed better training better constructed. Turbulence does not bring airplanes down. People get hurt when they dont have their seat belt on. Stay safe keep the seat belt on. We appreciate it. Good advice thank you. And turn now to ryan smith with the other top developing stories. Good morning, amy, dan. We begin with another apparent threat against Police Officers ending in gunfire. Police in philadelphia say that five officers were forced to open fire own a man trying to run them over. The suspect was killed. He had posted several videos online threatening police. And take a look at this, a wisconsin state trooper survived a frightening ordeal. He pulled over this dui suspect when that happened, the man dragged the trooper 50 feet. The trooper recovering from his injuries. The suspect was later taken into custody. The fbi is looking for a few good hackers in the wake of Cyber Attacks like the one at sony. The bureau is launching a campaign to recruit people with experience in what the agents call Ethical Hacking okay . The cyber world is now a part of everything the fbi does it says. And russian president Vladimir Putin is under new pressure. One of the largest antigovernment protests in yearsyear s years broke out in moscow after his top political rival was sent to prison in a fraud case. Hundreds of protesters have reportedly been arrested. When it rains, it pours. In chicago, inspectors believe that the salt inside this mortons warehouse may have been piled too high sending salt pouring on to a car dealership next door. Some of those cars were buried in brand new salt. I should say. Most are a total loss because the salt likely damaged their suspensions. They must be salty, huh, dan . Well played. There you go. Vocabulary humor in the morning. Take that with a grain of salt. Its getting worse. This is a tough one. A big mistake by a College Basketball player in the final seconds of a big game. Florida Florida State tide and takes that and he taps it into his own basket. Oh thats tough. Show it again. He scored the winning basket for the other team at the buzzer. Im sorry, my friend. 2015s 2015s going to be a better year for him, im sure. Nowhere to go up. And this programming note the firstever College Football playoff starts tomorrow. Oregon taking on Florida State. And alabama and ohio state. Both games on our sister network, espn. And finally, a new and noteworthy addition to the dumb criminal file. This may be the one of the year. This guy broke into a house in houston. How did he get caught . Well he fell asleep on the job. Thats him sleeping in the bed. The owner of the house found him and called the police. He had the courtesy to take off his shoes. I give him that. Exactly. But heres the kicker it turns out he lives two blocks away and police say all the stuff he had stolen was piled up on his porch. Obviously not the best hiding place. And had a half open bottle of booze. That might be i dont sleep that well normally. Is he anxious at all . Oh drink, got it. Mystery solved. Thank you. And now to the good news for the 401k the stock market hit record highs, and the economy is finally, finally taking off. Growing at the fastest rate in more than a decade. What does this mean for your money in 2015 . Rebecca jarvis is here with more on that. Reporter good morning. If you have been staying the course and letting your retirement ride it must have been tough in the White Knuckle days but youre coming out a winner for the third year in a row. Stocks are going into the last day of 2014 up 12. 5 . Meaning if you put 1,000 in an s p 500 index fund at the start of the year you would have earned 125. But in a bank account in the very best scenario in an interestearning bank account, about 10 on the thousand. Stocks have had an abnormally strong run since the great recession. They return about 7 a year. Anyone not planning to retire for at least a decade, they are much better off you are much better off putting money in stocks than a bank account. Good reason to kick off the new years resolutions with looking at the 401k. Thanks. It is the last day of 2014. Its the last chance to make a new years resolution. Just hours away from the ball dropping on 2015. If youre going to do it now is the time. Sara has what were resolving to do in the new year. Reporter hi. We have good intentions but apparently not so much follow through. 44 of us plan to make them. Which i thought seemed low. But only 8 say they keep them. What are we planning to do in the new year . Its about now, these arent too surprising, being a better you, losing weight, followed by more exercise and stop smoking. Now thats a big one. So i got little anna here. Can you tell me what your new years resolution is . I wont fight with my sisters. Do you do that a lot . Not really, but sometimes. How long do you plan on keeping that resolution . For the rest of the year. A whole year. Im impressed. Any new years resolutions, amy . I resolve to get rid of my cold. Thats not a resolution. Im following through on that one. Thats not quite a resolution. Well give it you, right . A resolution . Stop fighting with little annas sister so much. Right. No less bread. Ate too much bread. Thats a good one. Ive said this for a long time, im going to listen to you, dan. Really . Some day. Not optimistic. And dan makes fun of me for texting, i can do two lets go ahead and talk about lake effect snow. How about this video from the buffalo area, south of buffalo and thats cherry creek. Guess what . Winter storm im sorry, lake effect snow warnings in watertown and in buffalo. I think watertown is going to get the brunt of this. Looks like one to 3 feet, for the heaviest snow bands. Temperature at midnight 23 buffalo, 20 pittsburgh, 23 cincinnati. Local Weather Forecast is 30 seconds away. First this mornings cold cities brought to you by macys. Happy new year we have one. New years eve starting out drive. On Storm Tracker 6 live double scan but also on the cold side. Lets take a look outside. We have plenty of sun over the horizon but its not going to help much. Right now temp in the 20s and wind chills in the teens. Your afternoon call from accuweather, how about 35 for a high for new years eve . Down to about 28 in philadelphia from midnight tonight. So coats scarves and gloves layers all around but have fun. It wont be precipitating. Tomorrow 38 degrees, still brisk and sunny on new years day soccer star hope solo in court facing Domestic Abuse charges. Why the judge may ghisz the case. And an avalanche chasing a couple down a mountain. Their escape caught on camera. And the major risks of selling your old cell phone. Why wiping it clean may not be enough. On me that it could hurt your teeth. 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