Jackpots ever. People waiting hour force their shot at nearly half a billion dollars. Will good night be a good night for you . Good morning, america. Happy wednesday. Boy, that poun jackpot crept up there. It did. Cant win if you dont play. Thats it. Its getting up there, almost half a billion dollars and talk about that later. Well begin with the war on isis and the death of american hostage kayla mueller. She had been held for a year and a half by the terror group. This morning we are learning more about her life in captivity. Abcs brian ross is here with that. Good morning, brian. Reporter good morning, robin. U. S. Authorities say they are aggressively hunting for the isis leaders they hold responsible for the captivity and death of kayla mueller. Including one who they fear was given her as a kind of bride in the months before the heartbreaking news of her death. Kayla has touched the heart of the world. The world grieves with us. The world mourns with us. Reporter Kayla Muellers family says it wants these photos to be how she is remembered. Released after confirmation of her death, along with a letter she wrote to her parents smuggled out last year by a hostage who had been set free. Just the thought of you all, she wrote to them sends me into a fit of tears. There were lots of tears as her aunt spoke of the young idealist. In her letter she wrote, i have come to see there is good in every situation. Sometimes we just have to look for it. And right now thats what were all trying to do. Reporter with muellers death now confirmed people involved in trying to rescue her told abc news they had been tracking a senior isis leader who had been given her as a kind of bride or reward. In the past weve seen that isis has actually sold off women and young girls into the custody of their fighters on the front lines. Reporter the 26yearold arizona native went to syria with a syrian boyfriend to work with war refugees. I am in solidarity with the syrian people. Reporter she described her captivity. Please know that i am in a safe location completely unharmed healthy. I have been treated with the utmost respect, kindness. But mueller still had the determined spirit that had led her to syria in the first place writing no know i am also fighting for my side in the ways i am able. I have a lot of fight left inside of me. I am not breaking down. I will not give in no matter how long it takes. The time ran out for kayla mueller. Analysts at the Fbi Crime Lab examined the photos sent to her parents and while they were able to confirm she was, in fact dead Officials Say there is still no good idea about how she actually died and no confirmation of the isis claim that she was killed in an air strike last week by jordanian pilots. Thats incredibly satd. There were rescue attempts. Over the july 4th weekend. U. S. Special forces went in and misses kayla and other hostages by just two days. More on this. President obama spoke about kayla on buzzfeed and Jonathan Karl brings us that. Reporter the president said his first reaction on learning kayla had been killed was one of heartbreak but also said that explaining to parents like those of kaylas parents why the United States will not pay ransom to get the freedom of hostages is one of the toughest things he does as president but made it clear this is a policy that cannot change. The reason is is that once we start doing that not only are we financing their slaughter of innocent people and strengthening their organization but were actually making americans even greater targets for future kidnappings. Reporter the but the problem, george is that the European Countries have no such prohibition and routinely pay ransom to groups like isis. Jon, it comes amid so much concern that the threat it could pose to our homeland, as well. Big hearing on capitol hill where the chairman of the Committee Says this is the largest convergence of islamist terrorists in World History in syria and iraq. Reporter in stark contrast to what the president said recently in an interview released earlier he said that the terrorist threat is exaggerated by the media and he compared his job in fighting terrorism under that of a big city mayor trying to keep the crime rate down but his counterterrorism head at the fbi has some very stark testimony, stark warnings in his testimony today. He says there is a new wave of terrorism and he warns, quote, george, individuals inspired by foreign terrorist groups could covertly arming themselves with expertise and tools to carry out an attack on the homeland. Jon karl thanks very much. Now to Brian Williams suspended off the air six months without pay after he made claims that a helicopter he was flying on in iraq was hit by enemy fire. Abcs david wright has that story for us. Reporter good morning. Nearly a week after Brian Williams apologized for falsely claiming on nbc nightly news that a rocketpropelled grenade struck a u. S. Army helicopter he was traveling in during the iraq invasion i made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. Reporter the president of nbc news overnight announced williams is out at least until august as anchor and managing editor. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in brians position she wrote in a memo to staff. As im sure you understand this was a very hard decision and certainly there will be those who disagree but we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action. Journalist express concern not just about that broadcast but also anecdotes williams has told elsewhere. Two of our four helicopters were hit by ground fire including the one i was in. No kidding. Rpk and ak47. Reporter but the network stopped short of firing him. We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work brian has done and the special relationship he forged with our viewers over 22 years, she wrote. Nbc news is now conducting an internal review of his work as well as his public statements about his experiences in the field. Concluding with a message from her boss steve burke. Brians life work is delivering the news, he staid. I know brian loves his country, nbc news and his colleagues. He deserves a Second Chance and we are rooting for him. In the interim lester holt will fill in and Brian Williams had just signed a new contract reportedly worth 10 million so this is at the very least a 5 million mistake. Okay david thanks very much. We move to that frigid cold spreading across the midwest and northeast. More snow in the forecast too. Ginger tracking it all. That storm already happening. Lets go straight to duluth minnesota, 3. 4 inches of fresh snow. They are in a somewhat snow drought for the season but will get more wisconsin through the great lakes with that same low that will then track and leave lakeeffect snow zones with a little extra talking 3 to 6 and then coastal low will kind of swing through thursday and friday maine into just north of boston picking up 1 to 3 and then 3 to 6 in that region. So i think everyone is going to notice the big change and the chill friday morning. Were talking Single Digits and subzero actual air temperatures. So the windchill advisories are already in place for parts of north dakota minnesota and wisconsin. And thats just the first cold blast. By the end of the weekend, look at the numbers. Chicagos morning, 5 below. 4 in new york. 4, 5 below. These are all the numbers i have to say. I thought it was a countdown of some sort. Not a countdown. Okay ginger thank you. Todays other top stories from amy. Good morning, everyone. We begin with a breaking story near the university of North Carolina in chapel hill. Three students found shot and killed in a home near campus. Police overnight identified the victims as a recently married couple and the womans sister. The husband and wife both dental student raising upon for a trip to turkey to help syrian refugees. A neighbor identified as craig hicks surrendered and charged with murder. They had runins with him in the past but police have not yet commented on a motive. Also breaking overnight the man accused of shooting a san diego tv sports anchor has surrendered after a frantic manhunt. The victim kyle kraska was backing out of his driveway when someone opened fire shooting out the back window of his mercedes hitting him several times. The suspect identified as mike montana surrendered after an hours long manhunt and standoff. No word on a motive or whether kraska and the suspect knew each other. Well a big headline overseas. The state department has closed the u. S. Embassy in yemen. Evacuating staff because of growing security concerns after shiite rebels took control of the government. And new video of a major highway pileup. More than 100 cars and trucks crashing on this bridge in south korea. It happened in thick fog. Two people were killed. 42 others injured. Drivers say they could barely see even just a few feet in front of them. And this morning a new record for apple. Its become the First Company in history worth more than 700 billion. That is nearly double the worth of the second most valuable company, exxonmobil. Apple has so much money its spending 850 million on a solar farm to supply its power. And finally, if youre in need of a laugh we bring you this. A question on family feud asked contestants name something a doctor might pull out of a person. Oh no. One womans answer was unusual. Take a look. Name something a doctor might pull out of a person. Darcy. A gerbil. Oh, no. Yep. And laughter ensues. Shockingly guy, it wasnt up on the board. Wow. Who knew. Anyway she didnt score any points but we all got a good laugh as did the audience. What was the number one. Said it without hesitation. Said it with meaning. Then that head shake. No then she said afterwards i cant believe i just said that. Oh boy. Okay thank you, amy. Hard turn sorry. We are going to get the latest on Bobbi Kristina brown as she fights for her life in an atlanta Hospital Police confirm to abc news they are conducting a criminal investigation and hearing more from her family. Abcs alex perez has the story. Reporter overnight investigators in suburban atlanta confirming theres an ongoing criminal investigation into what kt salih happened to Bobbi Kristina brown. Krissy as her family calls her remains hospitalized on a ventilator after being found face down in her bathtub offer a week ago. Her aunt Lee Hola Brown speaking out to atlanta tv station waga. There are so many signs showing us that she will be okay. But shes still on life support. Shes still on life support. Reporter lee hola who is not the family spokesperson saying doctors have told the family she is improving. Lawyers for Bobbi Kristinas father bobby brown addressing rumors about the 21yearolds condition in a stern statement saying the false reports that continue to appear in print and on the internet are egregious, false and will be dealt with at an appropriate time. And as they mark three years today since Bobbi Kristinas late mother Whitney Houston was also found unresponsive in a bathtub. Bobby brown himself thanking the public for supporting his daughter. For Good Morning America, alex perez, abc news atlanta. Prayers continue for Bobbi Kristina. To health news and a potentially huge change in nutritional guidelines. An influential federal panel is expected to recommend scrapping the warning about eating high cholesterol foods. Abcs dr. Richard besser is here with more with this. People are sitting down eating their eggs this morning in this is big and it sounds very popular here in the studio. Eggs may be back. Since 1961 doctors have been telling their patients watch the cholesterol that you eat and the reason is a connection between cholesterol in our blood and Heart Disease but now theyre saying that the dietary cholesterol really doesnt matter so much. So tell us about what brought about this change. Well science over time has, said cholesterol matters but the vast majority of cholesterol in our body we make ourselves of our bodies make it because cholesterol is important to cells and to making hormones and all kinds of things and your high level of cholesterol is more due to your genetics than what youre eating. I know people are wondering how does this affect each person individually. I cant imagine its all the same. It isnt. It doesnt apply to everybody. May be six months before these are finalize fundamental approved. There are certain people where the amount of cholesterol they eat it does raise their blood so wouldnt apply to them. Diabetics, it doesnt matter. If somebody put you on a staten thats because the level in your blood is high and wont change that at all. For others it may mean breakfast with eggs every day. Not such a big thing. I feel better about yesterdays omelet but if youre on statins dont change anything there without talking to your doctor and these respect approved yet but looks like this is whats coming. Youll have answers. Im sure there will be a lot of questions. On twitter, thanks. Laughter is the best medicine. Indeed it is and also the end of an era, if you will for late night tv. Jon stewart says hes retiring from hosting the daily show. Surprising fans with the announcement at the end of last nights broadcast. Its been an absolute privilege. Reporter after 16 years at the helm of the daily show, jon stewart shocking his audience announcing he is stepping down. Its been the honor of my professional life and i thank you for watching it. For hate watching it. Whatever reason you were tuning in for. Reporter during his tenure stewart turned the show into a comedy cultural juggernaut. You are concerned there is a sixfoot Festivus Pole made out of beer cans. Its florida. Youre lucky theres not a stripper named christmas swinging on it. President barack obama sgrt going headtohead with president s. Not sexy issues not the kind of you dont know what i find sexy. Reporter skewering wouldbe candidates. The difference between what you believe gay people are and what i do. And i live in new york city so im just going to make a supposition that i have more experience being around them. Reporter while never shying away from an on air confrontation. You have said you stated this i dont believe that theres a thing called White Privilege. There is not. See, now, now we have a conversation. Okay look if theres White Privilege then there has to be asian privilege because asians make more money than whites. Reporter in the process he became a goto news source for younger americans using humor to keep his viewers informed about current events. And were keeping these prisoners in cuba to keep americans safe because theres no way anybody could ever get to america from cuba. Reporter just one after becoming the host stewart burst into our National Consciousness with his coverage of the 2000 election. As for george w. Bush he watched gores concession speech and his reaction was as expected. I was not serveelected to serve one party. You were not elected. Reporter the daily show roster a venerable whos who of comedy launching the careers of steve carell. This is a complicated decision. Reporter john olver. Thank you. Im always excited, john. Reporter and Stephen Colbert. And as we know Stephen Colbert will be taking over for letterman this april. The daily show won 20 emmy awards under stewarts tenure. He has yet to announce his last day saying it might be december it could be july. Well enjoy every day until whenever. Thats true. You know what it was cute. I heard him say he was excited about having dinner with his family because hes heard from reports that theyre really nice people. Going to miss that humor. What a stamp on the culture, huge. Okay thanks, lara. Over to ginger. Thats a isnt it . I think its so lovely. Let everyone bask in the beauty of santa barbara. Thank you for sending that photo but its bittersweet. Everyone in california saying yeah but its really much warmer than average and of course that means its drier in a lot of places. Kind of comes along way couple different issues. And then this. Its warm, yeah youve got off shore flow. Arrive side 85, los angeles 84 but the winds could go 60 to even 80 Miles Per Hour and theres a look for the rest of the southwest. Las vegas 74. Your local forecast is 30 seconds away. First though the sunny cities brought to you by royal caribbean. Hey everybody, dave murphy with an update from accuweather. Nothing showing on Storm Tracker 6 live double scan. We have lots of Sunshine Building over the airport and elsewhere across the region. In the 20s with wind chill in the teens in most neighborhoods. This afternoon a high of 39, partly sunny skies overall, a little breezy. Tomorrow were posting the possibility of some spotty snow showers but little or no accumulation from niece in most areas. 39 is the high. And then bitter cold on friday with a high of just 23. Back to gma. E gets to tallahassee by the weekend and even miami. Lara a little cool. Okay. Okay. All right. Ginger thank you. Coming up on gma, Opening Statements in the american sniper trial. Chris kyles widow set to take the stand. Survival week. How to make it out of an avalanche live. The first thing you should do when you see the snow coming. People lining up for hours to buy a ticket for one of the biggest jackpots ever. Our huge live dancing with the stars event. The pros for the new season revealed. Shake it off crisp flakes of fiberrich bran. Answered by the perfect quantity of sun sweetened raisins. And with the sublime addition of icecold milk, the day begins. Sunll come out, tomorrow tomorrow is waiting. Own it, with kelloggs® raisin bran see you at breakfast™. And delight in temptingly tart and sweet new kelloggs® raisin bran with cranberries. Wisest kid . Survival week. Revealed. [ giggles ] [ snaps finger ] [ wisest kid ] campbells tomato soup with grilled cheese. Perfect together. What should we do ne