[Joe Johns, Cnn Anchor:] From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's January 2nd. Good morning. I'm Joe Johns. Thanks for starting your day with us. There's a crisis in Australia where floodwaters have submerged an area the size of France and Germany. Electricity has been shut down; 22 towns in dire need of emergency and relief. An Ohio sheriff's department is mourning the loss of a deputy shot and killed in the line of duty. She never even had a chance to defend herself. The firefight that followed and the colleagues' valiant attempt to rescue her all caught on tape.
[Johns:] More now on that widespread flooding in Australia. Monsoon rains have drenched an area the size of France and Germany, worst hit Rockhampton and Queensland, where 1,000 people are forced to evacuate ahead of rising water. The flooding has directly impacted nearly a quarter million people. The water is slowly starting to recede in places. Back in the U.S., an Alfred Hitchcock drama playing out in real life in a small town in Arkansas more than a thousand dead blackbirds fell from the sky Friday night in the town of Beebe. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission collected about 65 of the birds for testing. Officials say the flock may have been hit by lightning or high altitude hail. Police in Bethesda, Maryland, are on the hunt for the killer. The beaten body of a hospital staffer was found at suburban medical facility yesterday. Police searched the complex but did not find the killer. The hospital was on lockdown for several hours, turning patients away and not allowing anyone to leave. Next, a story of courage and sadness in Ohio, where the Clark County Sheriff's Department is making plans to honor one of its own. A female deputy, Suzanne Hopper, a mother of two, answered a call about gunfire at a trailer park outside Springfield, Ohio, yesterday. Investigators say she was taking photos of footprints when a man came out of his trailer, pointed a shotgun at her and fired. She never had a chance. The gunman then fired on other deputies and officers as they arrived, setting of a gun battle in which an officer was wounded. You'll see that as it happens and we want to tell you, the images you'll see are graphic and disturbing. The other deputy who was shot is in serious condition, but expected to survive. Here's how the tragedy played out. [BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WDTN]
[Gene A. Kelly, Clark County Sheriff:] The suspect inside opened fire and struck a German Township police officer. He's currently in Miami Valley and it appears to me right now that he's in serious condition, but they tell me that he's believed to be he will be OK. It appears that the door of the trailer opened and the person inside fired one shotgun blast, striking the deputy and fatally wounding a deputy. They did enter the trailer. The suspect was deceased apparently from the exchange of gunfire with deputies. Our deputy never had the opportunity to return fire or take cover. The deputy was an outstanding deputy and is married and a parent of two children. This is the worst day in my 24 years as the sheriff of Clark County.
[Johns:] Police have identified the wounded officer as Jeremy Blum of the German Township police. They have not identified the gunman. Utter devastation, that's how Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's reaction as he toured two tornado-damaged neighborhoods around the greater St. Louis area yesterday, as Nixon witnessed the destruction firsthand. A seventh storm-related storm fatality was reported in Rolla, an 80-year-old woman succumbing to the injury she received in Friday's twister. We're told at least 25 homes were damaged in Phelps County, Missouri alone. In northwest Arkansas, a similar site, where at least a dozen buildings were either destroyed or seriously damaged in Friday's pre- dawn tornado. All three of the storm deaths reported statewide were here in rural Washington County. It looks to be much calmer in the heartland today, but the East and West Coast could see more stormy weather. Reynolds Wolf, you're telling me it's not just California that's getting slammed?
[Reynolds Wolf, Ams Meteorologist:] It looks like California is going to get the brunt of it. You know, it's kind of one of those hit or miss kind of things. California is finally you know, they had a couple of days a bit of a respite. But, today, it's going to back to the rain, the sleet and the snow. But the rest of the country does appear it's going to get a little bit of a break especially parts of Southeast. So, we do have some good news. But for our friends out the west, get the rain gear ready, it's coming. You've got some scattered showers mainly in the San Francisco Bay area, over to Sacramento also, and you'll notice the areas that we have shaded in look at the orange and yellows, that's where you have the heaviest precipitation this time. So, in San Francisco proper, right along parts of the I-5 corridor, if you're tuning in from Freemont and maybe over towards Stockton, the rain is going to be coming down, everything coming directly from the south all the way to the north, all due to that area of low pressure that is right of the coast. But I'll tell you, with the low off of the coast and the rain in the valley, you're going to have something different in the mountains, you could have anywhere from one to three feet of snow, some gusts could be stronger, anywhere from 25 to 35 miles an hour, maybe something topping 40 later in the day. You could have some tough travel especially in parts of I-5, hitting the grapevine going into the L.A. basin. Meanwhile, the rest of your forecast looks pretty good for some parts of the nation, especially here in central Texas. Austin is going to be fine. Along I-35, southward into San Antonio, basically the same deal, highs into the 50s. And St. Louis, 36 degrees, the mix of sunshine and clouds; 41 in Denver. Out west, I mentioned the rain, you're going to have it in L.A. with 55 degrees; 30 in Boise, with the mix of sunshine and clouds; 16 in Minneapolis; 46 in New York; and 51 in Atlanta. You might have some delays in New York later this afternoon. But it looks like your best chance of delays it's going to be out to the west. San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, all due to the rain anywhere from 30 minutes to a full hour. And in Reno, the snow could keep you grounded from about 30 to 60 minutes. So, enjoy that time on the tarmac but hopefully, the terminal. A little bit easier than sitting in the airplane, nothing more frustrating than just sitting there and just waiting, waiting, waiting, and waiting as they deice.
[Johns:] You got that right. Seven hours, 12 hours that's a crazy stuff we've been hearing about.
[Wolf:] I think it's nuts. Absolutely.
[Johns:] Yes. Of course, we're supposed to have the Passengers Bill of Rights.
[Wolf:] There you go.
[Johns:] That's what they say. All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
[Wolf:] You bet.
[Johns:] Security is tighter today at Egyptian places of worship following an apparent suicide bombing at a church in Alexandria that killed 21 people. Seventy-nine others were wounded in that attack, including four police officers posted outside the church to protect the Christians worshipping inside. Forensic testing confirmed that the explosive device was homemade and contained nails and ball bearings. Officials believed the bomber was killed in the blast. Brazil's first female president begins her first full day on the job. Dilma Rousseff was sworn in yesterday amid cheers and tears from supporters. Many have followed her rise from a freedom fighter who was brutally persecuted by the country's military junta in the 1960s. Rousseff says she's committed to honoring women, protecting the most vulnerable and governing for all. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shook hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the inauguration ceremony during a time of diplomatic tension. President Obama and Congress are back at it this week, after the holiday break. And it's a new Congress, the challenges facing the president as he tries to push through his agenda, plus Josh Levs with hot new videos you just got to see.
[Josh Levs, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. You know, this is our weekly dessert. We get to pull some of these together and show them to you now. How about this? What happens when you put a camera on the end of a sword? I'm going to show you that. I'm going to show you a pizza acrobat, too, a little girl's brilliant speech and this a video all about snow that has gone viral. We'll be telling you the story behind it, coming right up.