5 Things to Know This Morning
5 Things to Know This Morning
— -- Your look at the five biggest and most buzz-worthy stories of the morning.
1. US Says North Korea Responsible for Sony Hack
Those who hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment - releasing a trove of emails and stealing personal data from company executives - were directed to do so by North Korean officials, a senior administration official told ABC News.
The hackers have also threatened to attack theaters screening "The Interview" - a fictional comedy about two Americans who are asked to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un - leading several major chains to pull the film from their lineups and Sony to cancel its Christmas Day release date.
The U.S. used painstaking cyber-sleuthing to piece together what happened, the official said, noting that the individual or group behind the hack were not in North Korea. The official said U.S. intelligence and the FBI pulled all the stops out given the unprecedented nature of the attack that destroyed files, shut down work stations and exploited company secrets and strategy.
2. Obama Doesn't Rule Out Presidential Visit to Cuba: ‘Let’s See’
Marking an abrupt sea change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, President Obama said he is open to visiting the communist Caribbean country before he leaves office.
“I don’t have any current plans, but let’s see how things evolve,” Obama told ABC “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir in an exclusive interview.
The president also told Muir he spoke by phone with Alan Gross, the American detained in Cuba for more than five years, as he flew back to Washington following his release from a Cuban prison.
3. Search Continues for Suspect Who Shot Texas Meteorologist Outside TV Station
Police continued their search for a suspect in the shooting of a Texas meteorologist outside a TV station in Waco, Texas.
The suspect fled after allegedly shooting Patrick Crawford, NBC affiliate KCEN's morning meteorologist, multiple times in the studio's parking lot, Department of Public Safety Trooper D.L. Wilson told ABC News.
Crawford underwent surgery, he added. Crawford's wife, Heather Brinkmann, also a meteorologist at the station, was with him at the hospital, KCEN's news director Jim Hice told ABC News.
"Thank you for your continuous thoughts and prayers," Heather Brinkmann posted on Facebook. "I am happy to say that Patrick is in stable condition. Doctors continue to tell me how well he's doing considering the multiple gunshot wounds. Police tell me that if it wasn't for his smarts to hurry up and drive off and flag down construction workers, it could have been a whole different story. He is truly my hero."
4. Canadian Finds Woman With Ex-Girlfriend's Name to Travel the World Together
Jordan Axani, 28, of Toronto, Canada, has finally chosen a woman with his former girlfriend's name with whom he can travel around the world.
After buying the tickets before he and Elizabeth Gallagher split, the real estate developer early last month offered his ex's plane tickets for free to a woman who had to be named Elizabeth Gallagher in order not to lose his investment.
Predictably, the result was thousands of emails, including 18 from Elizabeth Gallaghers with Canadian passports and hundreds of people who wanted to change their names.
5. Texas Plumber's Truck Ended Up in a Syrian Islamist Video
A Texas plumber who has never been to Syria said he is getting threatening phone calls related to the country's civil war because his former truck appeared in an Islamist group's propaganda video.
Callers knew it was Mark Oberholtzer's old truck because it still had his company's decal and phone number on the door.
Now, it also has an anti-aircraft gun secured to the bed of the truck, as seen in a photo and video on the Syrian group's Twitter account.
